Selcouth Cosmos
by sondor
Summary: "She wants to rant and scream hurtful profanities at this life invader, while the other half of her wants to pull him on top of her and scream about something else entirely." AU, E/B, OOC, Alienward
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer** : Stephenie Meyers owns all rights - no copyright infringement intended. Her characters are just totes fun to play with.

 **A/N:** Welcome! This story was originally called _Only the Beginning_ for the first eighteen chapters until I grew tired of the mundane name not having much correlation with the story. Thus, Selcouth Cosmos. If you're about to switch to another tab and attempt looking up that strange word, allow me to save you a couple clicks (or thumb taps if you're mobile).

Selcouth (ˈ _sel-ˌküth_ ), adj. (ori. old english): Rare, unusual, wondrous; selcouth connotes an air of mystery and unfamiliar exquisiteness, which has been unexpectedly discovered - strange, yet beautiful, selcouth should be reserved to describe only the most extraordinary.

The word _cosmos_ is pretty much explanatory as how I use it refers to the whole entire freakin' universe. As this story develops, the title will begin to make more and more sense - and that silly word _selcouth_ will be a reoccurring theme as our main gal experiences more than she ever thought possible. I'd also like to note that I wrote the first six-ish chapters like a year ago with no intention of ever posting. I eventually got back on the writing wagon, and I'm hoping my improvement is noticeable lol. The first couple chapters are going to be shorter but they eventually lengthen up :)

* _drumroll please_ *  
I present to you my first fic,

 _Selcouth Cosmos_

* * *

 **Prologue  
** _(?POV)_

He'll never want to relive this reeling motion again - the forceful, suspending movement of slicing through the air, similar to that of a meteor cutting through Earth's atmosphere. He can find no words to describe the yanking gut feeling he has waiting for the imminent impact of ground. He is too busy staring up at the sky, at his pod leaving him in the distance. He has no word for that feeling either.

* * *

 **A/N:** stay tuned! -sondor


	2. Chapter 2

Please enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter One:  
**

Bella Swan pulls her shoes off, grimacing at the smell of french fries emitting from her uniform, and slouches against her plush couch with a sigh. Her feet were mega sore from the double shift she pulled at Ollie's, brain tired and numb from the hours of repetitive tasks. Her mind eventually wanders and she begins musing over some conversations she had with some customers she'd served when her entire house shakes and the lights all around her flicker on and off rapidly before suddenly dimming to black.

She inhales in surprise, her trembling hands find her phone and switches it on for light.

What was that loud boom sound she heard? It lasted only seconds but it was enough to spook her and her giant, lazy great dane mix, Red. Normally a dog who rarely raises his head to bark at the weekly mailman, his behavior now is strange. Red's ears are low and his teeth bared, the only sound coming from him a low and threatening growl.

Something feels wrong to Bella, but she brushes it off with logic. For minutes she contemplates the cause of the sound in the darkness - a tree falling? A tiny earthquake, or maybe the shocks of a larger one nearby? She's heard of transformers blowing up during earthquakes. However, this far out of the city… she couldn't imagine a blown transformer shaking her house. The nearest one is nearly half a mile away, she remembers. The loud, sort of viscous bang she heard appeared to be fairly close-by.

Suddenly, she pictures an aircraft crash and thinks about the survivors that might theoretically still be out there. Knowing she would not let it go until her curiosity and morals were put to rest, she stuffs her feet back into her shoes and stands up from the couch.

She could not explain the lingering feeling of fear at the back of her mind, but her determination to be a decent person allowed her to ignore it.

Grabbing her flashlight and coat, she coaxes Red to follow her out the door. He doesn't budge from his sitting position on the floor next to the couch. Strange, she thinks, as he scoots back a step and lays down. Bella immediately understands his behavior. He doesn't want her to go. What in the hell could be out there?

* * *

The frigid night air hits Bella like a slap in the face the second she opens the front door. She has a flashlight in one hand, her father's knife in the other. Her cell phone is resting comfortably in her back pocket next to an extra pair of batteries for her flashlight - she feels ready for whatever may be ahead.

Outside, she does not notice anything out of the ordinary. The trees she looks at every day are still rooted where they always are. Her rusted truck sits archaically blue in the driveway. Nothing is amiss.

She follows the rock pathway to the driveway and makes her way to the backyard, sticking close the edge of the house. Her fist tightens around the knife, and then around her flashlight to steady it from her nervous shaking. Why is she so afraid?

She scans the backyard with the heavy beam of light and shines upon an old tool shed she's never once bothered to go in. It's completely demolished. The roof looks as if it caved in so significantly that the walls around it exploded. Littered pieces of wood scatter around the main mess, the light from her flashlight beaming off pieces of glass from the shattered shed window.

Bella's breaths become labored, and her stomach rises to her throat. Not a lot comes to mind when thinking of what could have caused this, and that worries her. Her brain usually works a mile a minute with thoughts of logical answers and theories, but now she is coming up blank. Bella forces herself to take that first step forward, suddenly jumping back and smothering a gasp when she feels something at her hip. _Red_. His ears are still mounted at a low-point on his furry head and he looks as if he'd like to be anywhere rather than there. His girl was his life though, and anywhere she was, he'd be too.

The pair take their time walking to the opposite side of the seemingly endless grassy backyard. Their steps are small and measured. She makes sure to watch for glass as Red is walking so no pieces get stuck in his paws. Soon, too soon in her opinion, they are standing in front of what used to be her father's shed.

She observes the damage and comes to the conclusion that whatever hit it, must have been traveling at an incredibly high speed. The couple pieces of wood left from the roof are completely pulverized, the only thing still fully intact, although bent, is the metal door lying a couple feet away.

Slowly, so slowly, they move onward, passing the used-to-be shed. A few feet away she sees a deep impact made in the ground and moves closer to inspect it. Red is hot on her heels, whimpering and cowering behind her. Bella feels his fear, but ignores it, whispering, "shh, you big baby."

The crater next to the shed is the size of a VW Bug with a sizable trail at the end that snakes into the forest. Her jaw is hung open in awe, she's never seen anything like this in her twenty-two years. She is hoping for an asteroid or a satellite, but she sees no rubble or debris. The only plausible theory she could think of was that whatever hit her father's shed and went a solid five feet into the ground, got up, and walked away. Her heart pounds sporadically within her chest.

Shaken to her core, Bella frantically screams, "hello?! I heard the crash! Is anyone out there?" She hears nothing in response. Alarmed that someone might be dying and need her help, she inches her way towards the end of the trail. She is yelling and yelling, "hello? Hello? I'm here to help!" and waving her flashlight beam through the trees, searching for life, searching for a body, a mangled corpse…

anything.

* * *

 **A/N:** Oooo spooky first chapter - starting it with a bang from the get go! -sondor


	3. Chapter 3

Please enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter Two:**

"So... you're telling me you didn't find a thing?" Rosalie, her bombshell of a best friend, whispers. Bella has been staring at her symmetrical face, calculating Rose's facial reactions while relaying her experience from the night before. She was only going to tell it once. She did not know the consequences yet of telling people what she found, or rather didn't find, and something instinctual told her to keep it need-to-know. **  
**

Bella sighs and shakes her head, breaking eye contact to stare down at her dirtied waist apron, unnerved at the glob of ketchup staining the side. "I searched for hours, Rose…" She locks eyes with her friend and exasperatedly says, "and laid awake for hours after just thinking about it! It couldn't have been mechanic. Logically speaking, something falling out of orbit that fast _would_ have left evidence. There would have been some sort of debris scattered about. And I don't even want to get to a level of insane by suggesting a biological explanation."

"Like something living just fell a thousand feet-"

"-and got up and walked away, yes."

There's a pregnant pause. "Bella, that's insane," Rose starts before she's rudely interrupted with an amused scoff.

"I said it was a crazy suggestion. But what other theories are left to us? If we eliminate the possibilities of falling satellites, a huge tree or even some idiot catapulting a big ass animal, what is left? Nothing I can come up with…" she trails off before muttering, "maybe Zeus has it out for me."

Rose is quiet. Her hands fist her apron and her lips tighten as she gets lost in her head. Finally, she looks at her best friend and whispers, "after we're done here, you're showing me your hole."

Bella sucks in a breath and they stare at each other for a split second before bending at their sides, laughing until they're pink in the face.

* * *

Later that night, after a grueling, busy dinner and happy hour rush at Oliver's, the girls determinedly make their way through Bella's backyard towards the used-to-be-shed. Red is steadily following behind them, although he looks like he'd rather be anywhere else. While Bella bends down to pat his head, Rose inhales a loud gasp at the explosive demolition that is the shed.

"This is way deeper than I thought it'd be," Rose says, nearly breathless. She tiptoes to the edge of the hole surrounded by the debris. "It's not the shape I expected either."

At that, Bella cocks her head and stands up. "What do you mean? It's oval."

Despite Red's whine of protest, she slowly walks up to her friend to look down at the hole. Rose points out her finger with the flashlight beam on the small indents at each end of the oval, she counts five total - three on one end, two longer indents on the other. Bella is surprised she overlooked this observation the night before. However, with her panic in searching for a dead body, she could understand why she'd miss the small details. Now that she had the opportunity to really look at it, the hole formed to that of a large human shape.

"Do those three indents look like a head and arms to you?" Bella rushes out quick, before she loses her nerve by being the first to suggest something crazy. "A-and," she stutters, "and those two longer ones at the bottom… legs?"

Rose takes a step back from the hole and grabs Bella's hand tightly, hurriedly pulling her to the house.

"Rose?" Bella asks urgently, "what is it?" She is ushered into the house with Red hot on her heels, nearly tripping over her feet in the process.

Rose makes sure they are secure inside and closes the door after them, locking the deadbolt. She takes a step back from the door and grips Bella's hand. She looks over her shoulder at her best friend of eight years and says, her voice pinched with worry, "Bella.. I think you were right. Something fell and walked away. I know I sound like a crazy bitch but whatever was in that hole... I think it's still out there."

* * *

 **A/N:** more to come, stay tuned! -sondor


	4. Chapter 4

Please enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter Three:  
** _(BPOV)_

A week passes with nothing seemingly unusual happening. It was a dreadfully busy week for Bella, as she was on the brink of obsessive curiosity with no answers, and the only thing to take her mind off of it was her job serving at Ollie's. She took as many shifts as she could, and slayed two doubles in a row. It worked in distracting her, until she was given the day off due to nearly compromising her hours into overtime.

Bella would much rather be at work making money to save for classes, but is instead alone with her thoughts in a house she inherited from her dead parents. She's alone in her family home, alone for nearly a mile from her neighbors... alone with the massive hole in the backyard and possibly a super-strong psychopath killer.

She thought that if there was anytime for her dad to be alive, now would be the time. She could use his quick know-how methods and cunning abilities to figure this mess out. He would no doubt absolutely know what to do.

Bella quickly stands and stuffs her feet into her shoes. Her train of thought was leading to dangerous emotional territory that she did not want to deal with. She couldn't stand being in this house at that moment, surrounded by haunting memories.

She calls for Red and grabs her car keys. Red loves the promising sound of her keys and instantly shoots towards the front door with a happy howl. Bella giggles joyously, something only him and Rose knew how to do these days. She thought the two of them would head to Ollie's, just to hangout and not be so alone.

Bella walks towards the front door and turns the handle. It opens with ease.

She hears Red's warning yelp a second too late.

A strong hand shoots out in front of her face, using it as leverage to keep the door open. Bella gasps and instantly steps back, heart-stoppingly surprised at the looming black figure of a man in a ski-mask. He was quicker though, and uses the other hand not holding the door to grasp her wrist tightly as she tries to step away from him. Bella screams out in a panic and twists her wrist, trying to pull away from him with no success. Red is barking viciously in the background and at her horrified scream, he courageously lunges forward and attacks the intruder's thighs and groin area.

The man immediately lets go of her wrist with a pained yell.

"Run, Red!" she screams, kicking the man in the balls again for solid measure and grabbing her father's knife from the mantle, before sprinting down the front porch steps to her truck. She runs halfway to her truck before realizing she had dropped her keys when the man grabbed her wrist. She looks back at him to see him struggling to lift himself out his crouched position. It looked painful and she rejoices in that fact.

 _Good_ , she thinks.

Bella rushes back to the front porch, hoping to grab the keys off the ground before he has a chance to come to his bearings. Her knife is secure in her tight fist, ready to shank at a moment's notice as she eases up onto the first step. Her fingers pluck the keys off the ground, and with a twist of her feet, she sprints like hell-fire was after her back to the truck.

She looks behind her as she runs to see the man, evidently now pain-free, was on his feet and starting for her with a slight limp.

Bella squeaks and opens the truck door. Red is waiting by the door and jumps in, Bella climbing in after him. She locks both doors immediately and starts her truck a second later, shifting into reverse once her hand is on the gearshift. But before she presses her foot down on the gas, she looks back at the man walking towards the truck.

"What do you want?!" Bella screams, exasperated, tired and desperate. "What the fuck do you want?!"

Ski-mask man stops still. He stares directly into her eyes, his left slightly twitching, as he mouthed the words like a promise, "you."

With a terrified squeal, Bella floors the gas and spins the truck around, slamming it into drive and speeding down her secluded dirt driveway with Red viciously growling in her passenger seat.

She speeds away with the realization that the man who attacked her had bright, yellow eyes.

* * *

A/N: who else is in love with Red? thanks for reading! -sondor


	5. Chapter 5

Please enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter Four:**

Bella shakily drops herself into a booth at Oliver's.

Red somehow situates his giant self under the booth table between her legs, his big head settling on her thigh. His big blue eyes look up at her in worry, she had been crying so much on the drive here. Bella's hand instantly goes to the soft furs on his snout, calming both of them. She finds herself thanking him with her eyes. Although he can be a big baby at times, he was undoubtedly there for her. Especially tonight.

On the way over, she had dialed 911 and informed them of the break-in and attempted assault. She didn't feel safe in her home, so the dispatcher suggested having an officer check the place out for her. She readily agreed, offering her cell phone number if they found anything, specifically the ski-mask man.

Bella was still shaking, her hands refusing to stop their tremors. Her shock had yet to dissipate, and she was feeling extremely on edge and paranoid. It helped having Red by her side, and no offense to him, but that didn't seem like enough to her. She wished for her parent's guidance.

"Oh, hey Bella!" One of her manager's, Dave, exclaims, walking around some tables to squeeze into the booth with her. He was rather large and his belly heaves when he lets out a boisterous chuckle. "Can't get enough of this place, huh?"

"Of course she can't, I'm here," Rose butts in from the right, her sudden appearance behind Dave making her jump. "Damn girl, calm down."

Bella hums in response.

Rose looks down at her questioningly. "You good, babe?"

She glances at her friend and sighs. "It's a long story Rose. I don't even know where to start."

"Well," her best friend drawls out as she looks over at Dave, "I'm off now, yeah?"

He checks his watch and stands up from the booth. "Yep, you ladies have your girl talk. I have to go manage a restaurant now."

"Have fun, kiddo," Rose teases before plopping down where he was sitting and yelling after him, "and bring your best girls some raspberry cosmos!"

The second he disappears around the corner, Rose gets down to business. She sets her elbows on the table and leans in close to Bella. Her hands are folded underneath her chin and her thumb taps against her cheek. "Tell me what's wrong," she says, and then in the same breath, "you're practically shaking right now, and your hair is all over the place… you smell like wet dog. I can see the tear tracks on your face, too." She grabs her friend's hand. "What's wrong, Bellybean?"

Bella was trying her hardest to keep her shit together but at her best friend's sincere question, the dams break and she freely shakes as she sobs into her hands. "It… was… so… awful," is all that Rose manages to decipher between large gasps of breath and hiccups.

Rose's heart deflates. The last time she saw her break down like this was when her dad passed away. She grips her Bella's hand tighter and moves to sit next to her. "You want to get out of here?" Rose murmurs softly, using her other hand to methodically stroke through Bella's long, dark locks. "I'll take you and the beast to my place, pour you a big ass glass of wine and then maybe we can cuddle up and talk about it?" A second later she compromises with, "or we don't have to talk about it at all, it's up to you."

Defeated, Bella hangs her head and whispers, "Let's go."

As they stroll out of Oliver's, Dave walks back to their empty booth with two raspberry cosmos in hand and a confused look on his face.

* * *

Not thirty minutes later, the two girls were huddled under a blanket on Rose's couch in her apartment. Bella had recounted her experience, occasionally sipping out of a wine bottle for courage, and was now listening to the silence as she let her words sink in.

Rose sits quietly next to her friend, snagging the bottle out of her hand and taking a generous gulp. Afterwards she heaves a sigh, and wonders what kind of demons follow her sweet friend around.

Bella's bad luck is record breaking. They both know this.

When they were ten years old, Bella's dad had gone on a business trip for a couple days to Hawaii, leaving her with Rose and her parents. The girls put Rose's bunk-bed to use, excitedly throwing together blanket forts and a pretend talent show. They had the combination of their stuffed animals as the audience lined up neatly side by side on the bottom bunk. On one particular cartwheel, in her attempt to show off for Judge Unicorn, Bella tripped over the blanket fort and forcefully smacked her skull against the frame of the upper bed. The shrimp of a girl was immediately laid out flat on the floor, unconscious. She remained unconscious and woke in a hospital bed the next day.

When the girls were fourteen, Bella slipped on ice on the way to the bus stop and fell into an icy mud puddle. Splotches of dirt brown covered her from head to toe, her hair dark, and wetly caked. She admits it wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't been picture day.

On Bella's sixteenth birthday, her father took her and Rose to a baseball game at Safeco Field. In the middle of the seventh inning, a foul ball sliced through the air heading right for their section. Bella had jumped up from her seat, reaching out to catch it as it was coming straight for her, when a burly man from behind swooped it mid-air before it was able to land in her palms. The man was also carrying a large soda, and since he needed his hands to catch the ball, coca-cola was consequently dumped all over her.

And so on and so forth.

The problematic experiences Bella has had in the past now seem small and simple compared to what life has thrown at her recently. Honestly, she'd rather fall in a giant pile of horseshit like she did when she was five than deal with a scary burglar with yellow fucking eyes. Contacts or not, they gave her the heebie-jeebies.

Halfway through the bottle of wine, Rose suggests Bella and Red stay at her place for a couple days until things settle down. With a shudder at the thought of going home alone, she readily agrees.

Thus, they polish off the bottle together and fall asleep curled up on the couch.

* * *

The next couple of days go by in a blur as Bella divides her time between school and work at Ollie's. There's no sign of yellow-eyed man reappearing but she doesn't let up on the caution that he could approach her at any given time. Her knife never leaves her person, even at work where she's sure it's considered technically illegal.

There she's at her most vulnerable even though it's a public setting. She has no idea what this strange man is capable of and what he will do to get to her. Her only hope is that if he were to attack her at Ollie's, that no one would get hurt.

Bella's paranoia eats at her like maggots to a decomposing carcass. She thinks about it all day and dreams about it night. Yellow eyes haunt her and if it weren't for Red guarding her throughout the nights, she guessed she'd never feel safe.

For a week, she gruelingly wonders what sort of surprises will jump out at her.

She could have never predicted what would happen the very next day in her small town library.

* * *

 **A/N:** thanks for reading! - sondor


	6. Chapter 6

Please enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter Five:**

All day Bella has been anxiously awaiting the relaxing, therapeutic silence of her small town community college library. Upon entering, the silence greets and soothes her. Well, the expectations of wanting it to soothe her, soothes her. However, today she takes notice of a different energy in the room.

Bella rubs at her chest, trying to quell the sudden pressure she feels there - mentally reminding herself to buy DayQuil later. It is the cold season, after all. She steps further inside the library, walking around desks with computers, and takes note on what is different today in the atmosphere. At first walking in, she hardly felt an inkling of discomfort. Now in the middle of the room, the uneasy feeling in her chest now resembled a rubber band strung tight, threatening to snap. It was overwhelmingly foreign.

The bookcases hypnotize her as she walks by each and every one, looking down row after row. She is certain she won't be able to focus on her studies until she puts her vibrating curiosity to rest. Her steps seem to echo and her breathing hitches as the band gripping her heart aggressively bends and snaps. If she wasn't as young and healthy as she was, she would be certain she was experiencing cardiac arrest, or the symptoms of a rare heart disease.

Now a tad fearful, Bella raises two fingers to the pulse point at her neck. She feels strong, rhythmic thumps in return and sighs in relief that her heart seems to be doing its job. It hurts, but it's working.

The end of her sigh catches in her throat as she comes to a halting stop at the very last row of bookshelves. Her fingers lower themselves from her neck and she has to hold back a gasp. There, at the end of the row, was the form of a man with very long legs sitting against a bookshelf. He was facing her, covered in shadows and hunched over a thick book.

Her eyes meet a wild mop of copper hair, and the gasp she held back becomes a gulp. The color reminds her of a bronzed penny. Even in the dim lighting of the library, each strand of hair glinted off a reflection of an almost gold. She knew without a doubt it was natural, even though she's never seen a hair color quite like his. Her ears pick up a small laugh coming from his corner, and feeling ashamed for staring, she turns to the books on her left and pretends to thumb through them, the entire time struggling to breathe through the pain.

Seconds later, she hears the sound of a large book closing and the clunk of it being set into its place on the bookshelf.

"Hello."

The unexpected, mesmerizing sound of his voice sends a shiver through Bella's spine. The restriction surrounding her chest quivers and snaps, the sensation making her inhale. Shakily expelling air, she murmurs, "hi," and then nervously shifts her eyes to find his in the shadows.

The sharpest, palest color of green invades her senses and sends her reeling. She grips the bookcase next to her, feeling faint from the explosion erupting inside her. The band around her heart relentlessly squeezes and squeezes. It hurts so bad, she's convinced her entire body will implode. She falls to her knees, gripping the bookcase on the way down. Her eyes stubbornly stay on green ones amidst the horrid pain racking through her small body.

"Breathe."

Somewhere inside Bella's head, she's made the connection that whatever is happening to her might be because of him. She knows she should be terrified. The pain she is in, however, doesn't afford her the luxury of thinking too hard about it.

She forces herself to breathe in and out slowly. With a couple lungfuls of air, the pain recedes to a dull ache. The slow snapping of the band in her chest is still present, but it's nowhere near as intense as it was.

"Impressive," green-eyes says, speaking up from the shadowed corner. Bella's fists clench in reaction to his voice. Gentle, yet assertive - almost arrogant. Her body is mysteriously attuned to his voice, something her mind is completely flipping the fuck out about.

"What the hell is happening to me?" She demands, her tone biting with her frustration.

A snicker from the shadows across from her. "Our first meeting, silly girl."

 _Huh_? "First meeting?"

She catches a movement, seemingly his shoulders in a shrugging motion. "Something you'll learn of later on." Again, his voice slides through her ears like warm honey. He speaks like he intends to see her again.

Bella leans forward, intent on getting a better view of his face. She doesn't get what she seeks, and instead focuses on the emerald jewels that glint at her from the darkness.

"How cryptic," she murmurs, her eyes narrowing. "Who are you?"

A hint of white flashes in the darkened area where he sits. Somehow she knew he was grinning, and the tone in his voice when he says, "a friend of a friend," confirms her suspicions.

Bella doesn't understand what he finds humorous about that, and why the heck he can't speak in anything but riddles. And she can't even begin to describe how frustrating it is not knowing who she's speaking to - she's dying to know if his face is any match for the loveliness of his voice, no matter how annoying she might find it at the moment.

"That really clears things up," Bella says, a snarky bite ringing in her response.

Some part of her, she doesn't know how amicable that part of her may be, knows she should be scared. Something about this whole situation is bizarre and doesn't seem right in the least. She notices the feeling of what she imagines as tiny feathers lightly tickling her skin, almost like the air around them has a charge of electricity. She's never felt these sensations before in her life, and the little voice in her head keeps repeating it's not normal. She should be running, it tells her. She should be considering the fact that her mysterious green-eyed man might be dangerous; that he could possibly be a man with no qualms to her femininity - a man with abandoned morals.

Maybe he's not even a man.

Fleetingly, she thinks of a library lurking vampire strategically sucking the blood out of college kids after luring them close enough to his shadows.

 _College kids would actually have to use the library for that to work._.

She quickly looks behind her and studiously searches for Mrs. Cape, the only person (besides Bella herself) who is here daily. She breathes a sigh of relief to see the withered librarian's head stuck in a book three aisles down, and not the sight she conjured up in her head of a bloodless corpse flattened out on the front desk.

Bella turns her head to face shadow man once again, quite shocked when his long legs and green eyes are absent. His corner of shadows is empty. She twists to look down the row to her right and.. nothing - not even the silhouette of a man walking away. With the realization he's gone, she notices the foreign sensations on her skin and in her chest have disappeared as well. Just.. all of it.. gone, like the quick flick of a finger snap.

She sits for a minute, gathering her very confused thoughts before standing up and walking over to the corner the strange man sat in. Running her fingers over the spines of the books that were next to him, she looks for the one he was reading. She finds one slightly out of place, and pulls it out.

 _THE ANUNNAKI_ in bold white caps is printed on the front.

"Anunnaki," Bella utters to herself. She gently touches the cover, appraising the picture of long-bearded humanoid creatures with impressive phoenix-like wings. It looked like something straight out of a sci-fi movie.

Something about the book calls to her and before she knows it, she's walking over to Mrs. Cape and setting it down on the counter.

"I'd like to check this out please," she says, sliding the book towards the librarian.

Mrs. Cape looks up from her own book and smiles, greeting Bella warmly. Bella returns the gesture and waits as the old woman flips the book over, searching for a barcode to scan. The front cover, back cover and binding are checked to no avail. The book doesn't have one.

"Sweetie," Mrs. Cape voices, returning the book back into Bella's hands. "Either the barcode on this one was ripped off or this book wasn't even ours to begin with." She smiles before adding, "no one is ever in here enough for it to belong to them. I suppose this is a case of finders keepers."

* * *

 **A/N:** would you rather find a mysterious book or meet a mysterious stranger? thanks for reading! -sondor


	7. Chapter 7

Please enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter Six** **:**

Finding a hiding spot for a book as large as the one Bella brought home was challenging. She attempted shoving it underneath her bed, but the metal frame was too low to the ground for her to fit it. She tried stowing it away in several kitchen cabinets, but then figured that was too easy of a spot if someone were trying to find it. She wanted it out of sight but close enough to her person.

It's not that she's concerned someone might steal it, Bella just wanted to be the only one who knows of its existence. She truly hopes it to be a clue from the mysterious stranger in the library.

She reads the first couple pages, enamored by the illustrations on each page and the stories of otherworldly beings to go with it. A couple pages into the book and her eyes begin to droop. She gets up from her bed and stashes the book underneath the couch in the other room. Satisfied with her hiding spot, she snuggles back into bed.

Exhausted, she falls asleep that night thinking of the book and the connection it has to her, and for once, yellow eyes evade her dreams.

* * *

The next morning, Bella wakes up groggy from vivid dreams she can hardly remember. She shakes her head and rubs the sleep out of her eyes, happy and satisfied she finally slept a whole night without nightmares. Whisking away the covers, she sets her feet on the floor and executes her morning routine of showering and making herself breakfast. Scrambled eggs were on the menu today, and she scarfs them down while reading a novel her English teacher assigned her earlier in the week. She was too distracted the night before to finish it and takes the time now, appeased when she gets to the final chapter a half hour before her Biology class starts.

At exactly noon, Bella steps into her biology class with her eyes lowered to her novel. She uses her periphery to walk towards her usual seat, occasionally looking up to politely smile at seated acquaintances.

She sits down, shimmies her backpack off her shoulders, unzips it and pulls her notebook out. She retrieves a pencil from behind her ear and doodles rough sketches of Red on a clean sheet in her notebook while she waits for class to begin.

As she is erasing a portion of his paw, a tingling sensation in her spine slithers down like a wet, slippery snake to her toes. The feeling intensifies to the rest of her body until her chest palpitates and her palms sweat. Her body knows exactly who has arrived, and her mind struggles to push the familiar feelings away.

Bella winces. She remembers so clearly how her body had reacted to _him_ yesterday in the library - and how achingly vulnerable her mind was to it. It was like slicing open a nearly healed wound, and she wanted nothing more than to lick it clean and forget about it.

Feeling miserable and out of her realm of control, Bella crosses her arms on the desk in front of her and with defeated resolve, lays her face against them. She calmly breathes in and out, willing the surges of sporadic palpitations in her heart to cease. Her hopes fade as the band around her chest squeezes and pulls with the most intensity she has felt yet. It hits her in powerful waves; uncontrollable like the sea, and just as violent, too.

Then, suddenly, the sea is calm and all chaos is still. Miraculously, Bella's heart slows and she gains back feeling to her body. She sighs, reveling in her supposed newfound peace, when she notices a faint pressure on her knee.

She quickly leans back from her crossed arms and looks underneath the table. Her eyebrows pinch at the sight. A pinky. One long pinky finger was touching the side of her knee, clinging to the hem of her jeans. The surrounding area where they connect tingles painlessly.

Bella follows the length of the pinky finger to the masculine hand it's connected to. She's trailing her gaze halfway up his arm, when Professor Brim suddenly slams multiple books down on his desk - his obnoxious, reputable way of requesting the attention of all his students.

The slam spooks Bella. She swiftly spins her head to the front of the room and scoots her chair to the side, effectively cutting off the physical connection between her leg and the pinky.

She nearly groans with the loss of contact. An explosion of hot magma bursts through her chest, forcing her to inhale in an odd raspy sound. She grips her thighs with tight fingers, nails digging deep, struggling to keep quiet as her professor begins to lecture a silent class.

She stews like boiling chowder. The pain is fiery and leaps through her bosom with merciless flames. A tear leaks out of her eye when she squeezes both of them shut - agonizingly choking on whimpers that threaten to escape, and wishing with everything in her for the pain to just _stop._

Bella is on the verge of passing out, tenderly grasping onto consciousness, when she hears the squeaky sound of a chair scooting closer and feels the warm weight of a large hand settling on her thigh.

Everything stills - time even seems to stop. The flames that had licked through her veins are blissfully smothered, and she sags against her chair with relief. Her eyes are still clenched, and somewhere in the back of her head, she hears Professor Brim's voice excusing the class to work on the lab he's assigned.

Breathing softly through her nose, her eyes open and they observe the hand draped across her leg.

A shuffle next to her, and she feels his breath waft against her cheek as he leans in close to her ear. She stays still and curses the goosebumps that riddle her arms when he speaks.

"It would be best if you didn't pull away this time."

His voice is as buttery sweet as she remembers, and his statement confirms what she began theorizing yesterday in the library. Somehow, intentional or not, his presence is a burning poison that eats at her from the inside out.

 _And his touch_... _the antidote_.

Bella swallows against the lump in her throat, and lets the pressure of his hand on her leg ground her, before lifting her eyes to his.

And, _holy shit_ , was she pathetically unprepared for the sight that greets her. Not once in her life has she seen a human this genuinely beautiful.

His facial features were near godly - a structured, strong jaw paired with curved, pouty lips underneath a straight and angular nose. His hair is as wild and strangely copper-colored as the day they met, however it's his eyes that speak to her most.

They were as green as she remembered. The emerald spark of his eyes that she had witnessed that day in the library was intense in itself, but now she was near enough to see the gold flecks surrounding each of his pupils - and the unspoken power hidden behind them. He was so _other_. She let his eyes burn into her soul for a moment, her cheeks flaming, before brushing her thick, brown hair over her shoulder and filling out the assignment with shaky hands. She was so aware of the pressure on her thigh from his heavy hand, and she warred with herself in letting him leave it there. She didn't even know who this creep was, but she did know how much it hurt when he wasn't touching her.

She thinks back to the book he'd been reading yesterday in the library, and the powers ancient civilizations believed they had held - the ability to walk around in human form being one of them. Her heart had raced as she read that, her mind wanting to make connections that she knew rationally couldn't possibly be there.

 _There's no fucking way_ , she thinks, as she looks down at his hand. His normal, human hand.

All the strange things that have happened in the last month aren't rational, though. She knows this, even if she wants to brush it away under a rug far, far away. She thinks of the large crater in her backyard with no surrounding debris. She remembers back to the creepy attacker with yellow eyes, and the way her body reacts every time her green-eyed man is around - and now she could add how her body responds when he touches her to the list of odd happenings. He fuels an inferno with his presence, and smothers it with his touch. She could hardly process it, but deep down she wanted to understand and dissect it -along with all the other mysteries knocking on her door.

Slowly, she sets her pencil down and peeks through her hair at the peculiar stranger sitting next to her.

Her eyes must be magnets, because his gaze instantly attaches to her and doesn't waver. It makes her breath catch in her throat and Bella swears she feels his fingers grip her thigh a little tighter. A rush of adrenaline shoots through her, spurring her on enough to gain the courage to speak.

"So," she says, licking her lips and leaning a bit closer, "You've upgraded from a friend of a friend to a classmate, huh? You work fast." Once the words are out, she internally cringes and looks to the front of the room, hating how self-centered she probably sounded.

Still, she hopes for a response - for answers.

Bella peeks through her hair again and sees his mouth twitch upwards as his head lowers closer to hers. He's so close that she can smell the sweetness from his breath and the scent makes her eyes close, unintentionally committing it to her ever-growing memory.

"Motivation can do that to you," he murmurs.

Almost forgetting who she was talking to and why she was so nervous, she arches a brow. "Hey pal, you're gonna have to get in line with all the other lames who want me to write their essays. $100 upfront or no deal, compadre." Her tone is sarcastic, and she's pretty proud she got the words out without stumbling over them.

Red-haired man chuckles, revealing a perfect row of straight, white teeth. It doesn't surprise her, considering every other part of this man is pristine and practically gallant to behold. She's convinced pretty boy probably can't be bothered with regular bowel movements and most likely shits diamonds.

"Using your intelligence for my benefit isn't my motivation," he says, bringing her back from her odd musings.

She feels his hand gently squeeze her leg and she's totally embarrassed by the whimper that almost escapes her throat.

"Then what is?"

He smiles at her. It's the kind of smile a patient mother gives their child after they ask the most annoying, obvious question.

And maybe it is an obviously answered question... to him.

Bella slouches in her chair, her mind wracked with confusion about these seemingly supernatural feelings she has whenever he's around. She remembers no one else in the classroom had squirmed with pain when he walked in. Only her. No one really even seemed to notice him in the first place - _as if slipping into a college level course in the middle of the quarter_ isn't _noticeable_ , she thinks sarcastically.

She refreshes her memory from when he first walked in, sans the excruciating pain, and is definite in the fact that her normally observant Biology professor had not noticed Mr. Pretty Boy slip into the classroom.

Or sit next to the shyest student in his class.

Or touch her.

Bella's cheeks flame again with the knowledge of his heavy, warm hand still resting on her thigh with his long fingers evenly spaced out. She's very aware in that instant that his fingers are the closest contact to her lady parts than any other fingers, besides her own, had ever been.

The thought makes her even redder. Sweat breaks on the back of her neck as she pushes those thoughts out of her head and tries to think with more clarity. She didn't know his name - or anything about him really. She hadn't a single clue who he is or where he came from, and here he is pushing third base when her high school boyfriend of two years struggled just to make it to second.

Her blush starts to splotch as anger swells in her belly. Nothing makes sense. Her body has never reacted this way to anyone, let alone a practical stranger. She wants to blame hormones. Naturally. However, the pain she had felt was all over, not secluded to her womanly anatomy. And all these suspicious, cryptic conversations between them has risen her hackles in defense.

Bella takes another look at him, this time pushing her hair behind her ear so she can see him better. She resolves that she won't be involved in whatever scheme he's apart of, no matter how much her eyes liked appraising him.

And with that thought, she looks at him with her whiskey gaze and says simply, "I need to know what's happening around here." Not a suggestion for information, but a demand. She's sick of feeling like a puppet, and it was time to take control of her strings.

She observes the slight widening of his eyes as they flick to the students sitting around them, then to Brim and then back to her - almost like he was afraid of someone listening in.

"Not here, not now," he grumbles. Bella deduces his tone as final but stubbornness and perseverance were her -some would say- finer qualities.

"Why even come here then? To the library, my school and to my class? I think I deserve to know," she whispers vehemently, "why you strangers show up out of nowhere and my life just starts sporadically veering off the tracks-"

His hand squeezing her thigh makes her fall short on her rant. "Stranger _s_?" He questions, emphasizing on the 's'. "Plural?"

She rolls her eyes. "Yes, plural. You and Yellow made appearances around the same time, like a week or so apart."

"Me and Ye- who is Yellow?" His thick eyebrows crinkle together, the dark contrast of them highlighting the green of his eyes.

"His eyes..." she murmurs distractedly, before catching herself and sputtering out, "his eyes were yellow so I call him Yellow."

"You didn't get his name?"

Shrugging her shoulders, she retorts, "I guess it slipped my mind to ask him while he was attacking me."

" _Attacking_ you?"

"Yeah, _attacking_ me" she says, adding after a tense pause, "so I hope you can imagine why I'm not too fond of random people following me around and feeling me up." Not that she was fond of that to begin with.

His hand goes slack against her leg, all dead weight without pressure, yet he makes no effort to remove it. "I had no idea," he says quietly.

She hums conspiratorially and leans in closer to him. "It's okay bud, you definitely take the cake. I've never felt pain like the kind you can dish out."

His lips thin into a straight and serious line. "My name isn't bud, and it's not intentional."

Bella almost giggles at the defiance in his voice before continuing her attempt to cleverly dissect and extract more information out from under his nose.

"I guess you look more like a Mike."

His eyes grow hilariously wide as he looks at her in shock. "A Mike? Not even a full Michael, but a Mike?" He's authentic with his surprised reaction and Bella can't help but think it adorable - even if he is a creepy stalker.

"Yep, that's your name. It's filed away," she says, tapping her head.

He shakes his head and huffs, tapping his eraser on the desk with his free hand. She's surprised there is no eye roll. "Bella," he mutters, casting her a solid glance, "if I lived a thousand lifetimes and remembered the name I had in each one, there is no way in any of those lifetimes would I _ever_ be named _Mike_."

She blinks at him in shock, taken aback by the statement itself and the length in which he spoke to her. It's the most she's heard him speak in one go, and she had to pinch the leg he wasn't holding to distract herself from the silky, butteriness of his voice - _especially_ when he said her name.

 _My name_ , she thinks with a start as her eyes grow even wider, _he said my name_!

Right then, silently gazing at each other, she realizes that not once in their two 'accidental' meetings did they make formalities. She had never offered her name as he had never offered his.

She tries to shake her revelation shock off quickly but it's obvious he noticed the change in her facial features. So she rolls with it.

"The scales have tipped," she murmurs.

"Pardon?" he asks, a 'v' forming between his scrunched eyebrows.

"The scales have tipped," she repeats, "how strange you should know my name before I know yours."

"I- uh," he stammers, "I-"

The short screech of the bell stops him before he's able to finish his thought. They look up as Professor Brim dismisses his students with a wave, and then back at each other.

His eyes are the clearest green she's ever seen and as he leans closer, they get impossibly more iridescent. "I wish I could tell you more," he says, capturing her gaze earnestly, "But I can't, not right now."

Bella catches the truth behind his words, but she can't help her anger as she looks away from him. She reaches down to fist her backpack before forcefully pulling it over one shoulder. She wants to rant and scream profanities at this life invader, while the other half of her wants to pull him on top of her and scream about something else entirely.

"Guess I'll see you around Mike," she says, glancing at him once more, before bracing for the pain to come as she stands up from her chair and away from the hand that had been holding her thigh for the last hour.

Her nerves light on fire the instant his palm leaves her body. She had been expecting it this time around, and although it was near agony, it was more tolerable than before now that she wasn't fighting it. She takes step after step towards the door, and as she crosses the threshold, she hears him murmur,

"Bella?"

She looks back at her stranger.

"My name is Edward. Please stop calling me Mike."

She smiles to herself as she exits the room.

* * *

 **A/N:** and there you have E's _selcouth_ *wink wink* introduction. thank you for reading! -sondor


	8. Chapter 8

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter Seven:**

Bella buries her face in the pages of _THE ANUNNAKI_ the second she gets home from Ollie's. It was only a four hour shift, a piece of cake compared to what she's used to, but tonight trickled on at a grueling pace.

She finds the page in the index for E, and then sifts through the words with her pointer finger. She tenses as she sees the word 'erosion' and deflates when she gets to the word 'expand'. She was hoping she'd see Edward between them.

Huffing in frustration, she gets up from the couch and stalks towards the kitchen. She hoists the fridge open and grabs the wine bottle sitting on the top rack. She sighs in defeat as she grabs a sippy cup from the pantry and fills it to rim, taking sips from the straw as she screws the top on.

She walks back to the living room and plops down on the couch. Red lifts his giant head off the floor from his place in front of the fireplace. He looks at her like he knows exactly what's in her sippy cup, and she glares right back.

"This is mommy juice, Red; don't judge."

He huffs and lays his giant head down on his paws. Bella giggles at her silly dog before reaching for the thick book and settling it on her lap. She ghosts her fingers over the binding and the illustrations on the front. The material is old feeling, ancient even. She opens the cover and flips through the first couple pages, skimming paragraph after paragraph, searching for words to pop out at her.

Half an hour later, curled up on the side of her couch with an empty sippy cup, she finds a paragraph on page twenty-seven. She reads it once and startled, sits up and read it again.

" _Three races make up the Annunaki, and with each race is a status they are categorized into. Phib hold the lowest title and much like our civilization, they are below the middle class - the worker race. These beings are called the Dreg and they fall under the highest power in the Annunaki hierarchy, the Anuka. The Anuka have held the throne through blood for hundreds and hundreds of generations, passing the royalty status from kin to kin. They are a very rare race, as they only exist with systematic breeding provisions using their advanced technology to scour thousands of universes for life containing DNA compatible with that of the royal family. Anuka are the only race within the Annunaki who exhibit lifelong partnerships with their mates, and the only race whom display a mating process as complex and precise as theirs. Stories tell of mates experiencing agonizing physical pain upon their first meeting, and only offered solace when joined until-"_

Bella slams the book shut and throws it to the other side of the couch, causing Red to lift his head in alert. Sweat gathers at her brow as panic sets in. The last sentence is all her mind can process, repeating in her head like a mantra.

 _"Stories tell of mates experiencing agonizing physical pain… first meeting… solace when joined…"_

Her breaths steadily turn into pants as she grabs her sippy cup and stumbles into the kitchen. She grabs the wine bottle out of the fridge with shaky hands and closes the door, sagging against it once it's shut. She tips the neck of the bottle over the opening of her cup but her hands are so damn shaky that wine sploshes over the side. Frustrated, she tosses the cup into the sink and takes a satisfying, deep pull from the bottle.

She's always told herself that anything is possible. But as of now, her limits were stretched beyond what she thought capable. Half of her truly wants to believe this is an elaborate hoax, and that the day she met Edward was a staged prank intent to drive her insane. She could maybe accept that theory, if not for the other half of her yearning for this impossibility to be, in fact, possible - not that she would ever admit that out loud.

Red pads into the kitchen and sits next to her, his head neatly resting atop the counter. His baby blues stare into her eyes and she can't help but slide to the floor and let him lean against her. He whines softly and lowers his head to her shoulder, lapping up teardrops on her cheek that she didn't realize were there. Bella's gratitude for him swells.

She lets herself get distracted by the soft feeling of his fur, routinely sipping from her bottle and sighing. And sighing, and sighing, until her sighs turn into deep sleepy breaths and she's fallen asleep cuddled up with her massive red dog on the kitchen floor.

* * *

Edward leans with his arms crossed against a moderately sized kitchen island, gazing down at two unconscious forms on the tile floor - a young woman and her loyal dog. The girl's fist is loosely wrapped around an open wine bottle, the other spread out on the dog's fur. He steps forward and gently plucks the bottle away from her grasp and onto the counter behind him, frowning when she cries out, "no, no, no."

He crouches next to her and brushes the hair out of her face, tensing when she moans and mumbles some sort of gibberish under her breath. He tenderly cups the back of her head, justifying to himself that she might be feeling their connection in her sleep, and is with quiet relief when her sounds cease.

His movement awakens her beast of a dog - he gets a look at the name tag as the dog's head shifts towards him.

An intimidating snarl erupts from Red's throat once his eyes register Edward crouched next to his girl. He makes to moves up but Edward holds his palm out towards him, halting every move and every sound. Time slows for Red the dog, although he's very aware of what's going on around him.

"Red," Edward murmurs, taking in the slow tilt of the dog's ears as it hears the name it was given. "I'm not here to hurt your girl," he says, using his gifts to deliver the message in a language Red would understand. The dog's eyes follow Edward's every movement, the hostile look he had earlier simmering to curiosity. "I won't hurt her, boy. You can trust me," Edward utters once more, before lowering his hand and giving back Red's ability to move through time.

Red shakes his fur and sits up on his hind legs as he watches Edward carefully gather Bella into his arms. He stays sitting on the kitchen floor, even as the strange human and his girl disappear around the corner. Red's instincts to follow are strong, but the trust instilled in him is even stronger.

Edward elbows the door at the end of the hallway open, and walks with the sleeping girl over to a plush looking bed. He gently places her on top and covers her with a throw blanket, looking down at her once she's settled.

His breath leaves him completely at the sight. Her dark chocolate hair is an ethereal contrast to the white of her pillows and skin, and one may look upon her pouty, pink lips and rosy cheeks and think her an otherworldly being - an angel of the heavens.

Edward's hand hadn't left her body since he had first calmed her in the kitchen; even now his fingers stay buried deep in her thick tresses, rubbing soft circles along her scalp. He calculates her reactions to his touch. She seems to relax, but who knows if it's from the pain subsiding or not.

She sighs faintly as his finger trails from her brow line to her ear.

And at that very moment, something cracks and shifts within him, as if fate filled in a missing puzzle piece. He's unfamiliar with the feeling he has gazing down at her, and can only compare it to that of a meteorite shower setting off in his belly.

He had only heard stories of this from his ancestors. Witnessing the irrevocable mating ritual for himself was life altering. Edward was not an emotional being whatsoever, none of his kind were, but now here he was, overcome by so many feelings he thought he might implode.

Smoothing her hair once more, he strides out of the room, agilely closing the door behind him. His intentions coming here have changed, and he feared staying any longer would compromise his original purpose.

* * *

 **A/N:** a little insight to what's going on in E's head. as always, thank you for reading! -sondor

 **Annunaki Lang. Help :**  
Annunaki - (anne-oo-knock-ee)  
Phib - (feeb)  
Dreg - (der-egg)  
Anuka - (anne-ooka)


	9. Chapter 9

Please enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter Eight:  
**

A shrill screech of an alarm clock fills Bella's room as she sits up in bed with a start, head pounding and eyes straining from the sunlight seeping through her curtains. She hastily rubs the sleep out of her eyes and investigates her surroundings, noting the blanket covering her was one she usually kept at the end of her bed to warm her feet at night. She shrugs it off her body and places her feet on the ground, frowning down at the her wrinkled jean clad legs she wore the following day… and apparently through the night.

Frowning, Bella looks around the room again and thinks back to the night before, head still throbbing like a mother. She has no memory of going to bed, at least not in her own room. She swears she fell asleep on the kitchen floor with Red.

As she checks the room out, she notices her door shut.

Bella never shuts her bedroom door.

Her heart pounds at the thought of another visit from Yellow. Swallowing back the bile creeping up the bottom of her throat, she grabs a knife from inside her dresser, walks over to her door and whips it wide open. She sees nothing suspicious however, and continues slowly down the hall to the rest of the house.

The living room is clear of any unusual activity, the book she threw laying closed on the couch cushion, exactly where she left it. The front door deadbolt is locked tight, like it always is when she's home alone and it's when she steps into the kitchen and finds Red curled up next to the fridge that she truly remembers being dead to the world right next to him.

Were her dreams causing her to sleepwalk? _What the fuck?_

Looking over towards the island opposite the fridge, she sees a nearly empty wine bottle sitting safely upon the counter. _Too safely_ , she thinks, _wouldn't sleepwalking Bella just put the bottle on the floor?_

"Red?" She voices, her voice breaking the silence in the quiet house. Her giant dog yawns before lifting his large head towards her and greeting her with a thump on the pantry door, courtesy of his massive tail. "Red," Bella repeats, disbelief coloring her face, "what in the fuck sake happened last night, pal?"

He answers with another tail thwack.

* * *

One hour later, Bella is showered, dressed and brushing her damp hair. Throughout her routine, her mind replays every single suspicious thing that has gone down in the last couple weeks. The hole, Yellow's appearance, Edward, the book, last night and her supposed sleepwalking... What was the connection she was missing?

Her phone beeps with a message notification and she opens it with her free hand.

It's from Rose. _h_ _ow was your second night back home?_

Bella gnaws on her bottom lip, wanting to tell Rose what she experienced but for some reason feeling the need to withhold information. She hadn't told her best friend about Edward yet, and though she wanted to, how was she going to explain feeling the strangest pain whenever the two were in the same room?

 _Fine_ , she finally writes back, _I actually slept the whole night_.

Might as well incorporate as much truth as possible.

Her phone beeps again as she's brushing her teeth; 'Rosie' brightly popping up on the screen. She spits into the sink and opens the message, walking out of the bathroom and towards the kitchen for her backpack and keys.

 _nice! meet up at Ollie's before english?_ The text reads.

Bella looks at the time on her phone, just now realizing she still has thirty minutes to kill until class starts.

 _For sure, be there in ten_

* * *

Exactly eight minutes and fifty seconds later, Bella pulls into Ollie's gravel lot with her rusty blue truck, smiling as she parks besides Rose's green hatchback. Some things never change.

She locates her friend immediately once she's inside the restaurant. Rose's long, platinum hair is a beacon, reflecting whatever light may fall upon it. She waves when Rose spots her and makes her way to the counter, pouring herself coffee with two creams and a sugar, before joining the golden goddess in their favorite booth.

"To what do I owe this pleasure, Miss Hale?" Bella says with an exaggerated drawl to her words, sipping from her mug with one pinky up.

Bella was expecting a smile from Rose, maybe even a laugh. She was definitely not expecting the large grin that nearly splits her friend's face in half. Nor when she sighs dreamily and exclaims with enthusiasm, "Bella, I met someone!"

Taken aback by her outburst, Bella cocks her head at Rose. "What?"

"I _met_ someone. Last week. We've been so busy lately that it skipped my mind to tell you, my bad," Rose says, shrugging her shoulders before moving on with, "His name is Riley and we've been texting each other constantly since we met. I was thinking if the first date goes well, I'd like for you to meet him. Girl code and all that."

Bella laughs and nods, internally feeling guilty with her reluctance to share her own experience with a guy she found sorta kinda interesting. None of the college boys around here captivated Rose enough to get such a reaction, so while Bella was worried about her own problems, she was delighted to see genuine happiness radiating from her friend.

"When are you guys going out?" Bella asks

Rosalie grins and answers, "Tonight. We're going to the drive-ins."

"How romantic," Bella answers, "Are you gonna let him drive it in?"

A howl of laughter erupts from Rose's mouth as she slaps the table. "God, I hate you. No, bitch!"

* * *

English class flies by quickly as Bella and her classmates furiously work on their final draft essays. She finishes with minutes to spare, surprised she was even able to complete it considering the mindset she was in today.

She constantly zoned out thinking about the book and the paragraph she read last night. Was it real? Is this all a joke? Edward said he wanted to explain further but couldn't, what did that even mean?

She is the last one to leave the classroom, Rose rushing out first to prepare for her shift in the coming hour. Bella trails behind eager to-get-home students, lost in her head and watching her feet shuffle along the pavement.

In a moment of pure coincidence, she glances towards the trees across the parking lot… and freezes.

For once, she sees Edward before she feels him.

He's casually leaning with his arm crossed against the thick trunk of a spruce, roughly a football field away. Even from where she stands, she can clearly compare the deep green of his eyes to the leaves surrounding him - his bronze hair a lovely contrast to the tones of the forest behind him.

She walks closer, entranced with curiosity like a moth to flame. Once she feels the sharp sting of their strange connection, she stops.

Bella watches the tilt of Edward's lips as they curve into a slight smile, and continues to stare as he turns and treks into the dark shadows of tree cover.

She doesn't hesitate to follow.

* * *

 **A/N:** rude cliffhanger I know. thanks for reading! -sondor


	10. Chapter 10

Please enjoy!

* * *

Last on Selcouth Cosmos:

 _Bella watches the tilt of Edward's lips as they curve into a smile, and continues to stare as he turns and treks into the dark shadows of tree cover._

 _She doesn't hesitate to follow._

* * *

 **Chapter Nine:**  
 **  
**The trees loom tall overhead as Bella stumbles through the forest after Edward.

Her heart rattles inside her rib-cage, following after him had adrenaline racing through her veins. Branches scratch her hands as she pushes them away from her face, her feet constantly getting caught by roots threading through the ground. One would look down upon her current standing and think her the star of her own horror film, possibly leading herself towards her own death.

And some may see it that way, but not Bella. She was ambivalent towards her unknown future. She had lost so much already and besides Red and Rose, all she had left was her life - her life that a bunch of yellow-eyed, and bronze-haired jerks were messing with. She supposed she may be facing death at the end of her little hike, but it was better than sitting at her house, pretending like everything's okay, and waiting for her demise to come knocking on her front doorstep a second time. She needed answers, and what better way to get them from the source itself?

Bella sees a break in the trees ahead, relief flooding through her at the streams of sunlight filtering through the leaves. She finally reaches the edge of a wide clearing, and stops short once she steps into the sunlight as a familiar, and painful sensation creeps down her spine and to her toes, steadily spreading to her heart and constricting it like an angry boa.

Acknowledging and ignoring the tightening pain, she steps further into the light, briefly awed by the wildflower infested ground, before searching for her reason being there. She spots him across the field, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed in a recognizable position.

He's already looking at her when they lock eyes.

Bella swallows against her suddenly very dry throat. Wicked flames lick at her nerves and she fights them from engulfing her with every step she takes closer. She gets to the middle of the clearing, trying to emit sure confidence, and succeeding except for her habitual nervous lip-biting.

"Edward..." she voices, unsure of how to even start an interrogation, the pain making it hard to concentrate.

"Isabella," Edward returns smoothly as he pushes off the tree he was leaning against.

He slowly moves towards her in measured steps. Bella stays rooted to the ground like the flowers around her, swaying like them also, but from the agony she feels, not the wind breezing through. Bella cautiously watches him as he nears. Her eyes grow wide when he gets close enough for her to realize his towering height. She'd only ever seen him sitting down.

A couple feet away and Edward reaches his palm out in her direction, an offering of solace.

She wants it desperately, but needs to ask one thing before she can accept.

"Be honest, Edward," she breathes, "Are you here to kill me?"

His mouth opens for a second before he lets out a surprised chuckle. His outstretched hand goes to his hair, tousling it even more as he tugs and pulls. His emerald stained-glass gaze take her in as he grins, muttering through his smile, "No, Bella, of course not."

She nods, satisfied with his seemingly truthful answer, adding, "And you're not hurting me on purpose?"

His smile drops as he takes a step forward, reaching his hand for her until it loosely wraps around her fingers.

The alleviation from pain is immediate.

"No, never," he says earnestly.

Bella catches her breath, taking in the moment now that she was fully aware. Her fingers tingle where he touches her, his hand strangely cold on her warm skin. She gazes up at him, utterly perplexed by the effect of his presence and touch.

"Did you leave me a book?" she asks. Edward nods slowly. Bella tenses, whispering, "Is any of it true?

His grip on her hand tightens before he smiles at her, gentle green eyes persuading when he motions for them to sit on the soft grass. Bella sighs and sits down with her legs crossed - Edward sitting opposite, mirroring her position.

"Many of the stories in that book are believed as myths," he says, his thumb gently ghosting along her palm. "Only a few know of the truth behind them." Bella opens her mouth to ask another question when Edward holds up his free hand, "There's much to tell you, and little time. I fear you may be in danger, and the sooner we get through this, the sooner we can make you safe."

Bella's eyebrows furrow as she contemplates his words. "But I thought… yesterday you said you _couldn't_ tell me."

"We are not the only ones involved in this, _mysha_ , I needed permission."

"And you got it," she quips, while curiously thinking, _mysha_?

"Yes. Something none of us were expecting to happen, well.. happened," he says, nervously fidgeting with her fingers. It's the first time she has noticed him even remotely uncomfortable and something about it strikes her as innocent and endearing.

"Go on," she murmurs.

"Okay," he answers, "just try to keep calm, a lot of the things you're going to hear will sound unbelievable. And try to remember that just because this truth is unknown to you, does not mean it has to be scary."

Wondering what exactly she just walked herself into, Bella quietly agrees and waits for him to continue.

Edward begins by saying, "Your kind has always wondered if there was life beyond the stars, correct?"

She nods, wide-eyed as he licks his bottom lip.

"What if I were to tell you there's justifiable evidence?"

"Of life on other planets?" Bella clarifies.

"Precisely."

"I would say that's highly probable." Her response is quick. Bella's father always spoke of life existing on worlds far, far away from their own and always encouraged her to think freely. She's no stranger to having an open mind, and liked to think the people of Earth weren't completely all alone, stranded on a floating rock in the middle of space.

Edward smirks, one side of his lips curling up attractively. His free hand joins the other one fidgeting with her small fingers, tenderly cupping her hand in both of his, and shyly looking at her from beneath his long lashes. "And if I were to tell you that _I_ am justifiable evidence?"

"Of…" Bella trails off, her voice suddenly broken.

"Of life on other planets," he finishes.

"...You?"

"Yes, me."

"As in... you come from another planet?"

Their eyes stay connected as Edward slowly nods. "Another galaxy."

Bella's heart leaps in her chest.

"Holy shit," she breathes, patting her face with her left hand. "Am I dreaming?"

Edward chuckles and squeezes her fingers. "You're very much awake. I was hoping the book would assist in preparing you for this. I am told many humans are scared of things unknown, and the last thing I want to do is scare you."

Bella smiles despite her thumping heart. She's not scared, not really, but she's still reeling from that information. Accepting the truth that humans weren't the only conscious beings out there was almost effortless - accepting that she was sitting, touching and talking with one was a more difficult task.

"I want to believe you're being honest," Bella murmurs, "but how can I know for sure what you're saying is true?"

"Would you like to see a little trick of mine?" Smiling when she cautiously nods, Edward looks to his left and lazily points his finger over at a small pebble. The little rock lifts from the ground effortlessly. His finger rises, and as it goes higher into the air, so does the pebble. Bella can hardly believe her eyes as the pebble rises and rises, eventually bleeding in with the setting sky.

Bella looks from the sky back to Edward, bewilderment coloring her face red. Edward considers that as a symptom of belief, and smiles at her encouragingly, quietly letting her know how well she's taking all of this. Witnessing the affectionate, gentle side of him makes her wonder why she was ever wary of him in the first place. She doubts he'd willingly hurt a fly, much less put on yellow contacts and scare her out of her wits.

Because, admittedly, that had been one of her theories. Now though she doesn't think it possible, not when he's passed by so many chances to attack her.

But then that leaves the question; who is the yellow-eyed man?

She voices her concern aloud and she hears Edward sigh deeply. "Possibly one of my kind. Dreg generally have crystal blue or yellow eyes, essentially depending on their mood. I'm not positive yet if it was one of them, as Dreg don't have the means for interstellar space travel. It would be incredibly difficult for their kind to make the journey from our galaxy to yours."

"The Dreg are real?"

"Yes, _mysha_ , they are real. That book I gave you is based on truth, with the exception of maybe 300 years worth of information. It's almost as old as I am." He whispers the last part, winking with a quick grin. Bella's face flushes. "The book is resourceful, but is a tad outdated. Pheb are not viewed as slaves anymore, that part of history fortunately changed during Anuka Charles' ruling."

"Anuka Charles?" Bella asks.

Edward gazes over her shoulder, eyes growing sad. "Later, Bella." He says, his voice achingly quiet.

Shocked at the change in Edward's demeanor, Bella changes the subject. She trusts he'll tell her when he's ready.

"Are you an Anuka?" she asks, ready for the next line of questioning.

Edward tenses. "Yes," he utters.

Bella blanches, fiercely gnawing on her bottom lip. A pale thumb shoots up and frees it from her teeth, gently rubbing the tender area before disappearing out of sight. Closing her eyes, she mumbles, "I read some stuff about your kind. It might be outdated though, like you said."

"What did you read?"

"Um, I- uh…," Bella stammers, "I guess I read something about the pain."

He nods, leaning closer. "Continue."

Bella swallows. _God_ , _he's evil_ , she thinks. "Shit… I -uh, read that you only feel, um, _that_ , if you're a 'mated' pair," she awkwardly manages to get out.

Again, he nods. "Yes," he says simply.

"Yes?!" She almost yells.

He smiles innocently at her. "That part isn't outdated."

"This whole time you knew?" Her breath turns choppy, messed up with the fact that she has zero understanding of what mating with Edward even fucking means.

"I had suspicions," he murmurs. "I came to Earth for you with different intentions until I realized what exactly you are to me."

Bella shakes her head at that. "If you didn't come all the way here to take me away as your mate, then why did you come at all?" Her voice is small, shock still evident in her tone. Her hands have started to shake, and Edward sighs from deep within him, gripping both her hands tightly, hoping she can handle this final piece of information.

"I came here for you, Bella, because your father died. And you are his only heir."

* * *

 **A/N:** it's one thing after another with that girl! hopefully this chapter answered some questions, although I know a couple more arose. I love when mysteries take a while to be solved and I enjoy writing in a style so we learn what Bella learns along her journey. anyways, a HUGE thank you to SunflowerFran for her awesomeness and for those following with the story, and reviewing their thoughts. as always, thank you for reading! -sondor

 _mysha:_ a term for angel in ed's native language


	11. Chapter 11

Please enjoy!

* * *

Last on Selcouth Cosmos:

" _If you didn't come all the way here to take me away as your mate, then why did you come at all?" Her voice is small, shock still evident in her tone. Her hands have started to shake, and Edward sighs from deep within him, gripping both her hands tightly, hoping she can handle this final piece of information._

 _"I came here for you, Bella, because your father died. And you... are his only heir."_

* * *

 **Chapter Ten:**

Bella laughs out loud, disbelieving. Edward's not wrong. Her father did die, leaving her as an orphan and only child. But what exactly did that have to do with aliens from another galaxy seeking her out?

"My dad, Phil?" she asks, adding quietly while biting her bottom lip, "I don't understand, Edward."

His solemn gaze holds Bella captive, she thinks she might have even stopped breathing. He releases her hands and gingerly places his on top of her crossed legs, rubbing small patterns with the pads of his thumbs onto her jeans. Each trail he makes leaves a soothing aftershock. Edward looks away from her momentarily and swallows, capturing her eyes once more after a couple seconds.

"Bella..." he says slowly, "I'm so sorry to to tell you this, but - Phil... He wasn't your father. At least not biologically."

The meadow is silent with the exception of a light breeze whistling through the trees. She looks up at the darkening sky and lets his words sink inside her head, allowing the information to anchor to her brain as a wave of inevitable doubt hits her. Bella lowers her eyes and locks with his, witnessing the truth there but choosing to ignore it. How could any of this possibly be real?

"But Phil has been with me my entire life," she finally murmurs.

Edward smiles gently at her, the small change in his facial features setting off a swarm of butterflies in her belly. "There was good reason for his purpose in your life, angel."

Bella frowns and glances away again. She vividly remembers the heavy weight of her dad's arms around her shoulders, hugging her tightly to his chest, and the deep timbre of his voice all the times he told her that he loved her. His memory lives clear in her mind, and she will only ever be able to think of him as her father.

But now as Bella takes time to truly ponder it over, she wonders how she never noticed the differences between them. Phil's fine, sandy-blonde hair is a glaring contrast to her thick, chocolate brown tresses. His eyes were the color of daytime, a clear blue that looks nothing alike to her whiskey brown. His facial features were hard; hers being femininely soft.

She just always believed to get her looks from her mother.

A tear drop slides down her ample cheek as she accepts the fact she'd been mourning a man who'd been posing as her biological parent all her life. It doesn't make the pain any less. She still deeply loved Phil as a father and would always care for him, and would not and could not forget the life lessons he taught her. Without him, Bella wouldn't be who she was presently.

"What was his purpose?" she asks, lip quivering as a second tear snakes from her other eye. Why would he willingly stay with her all those years?

Edward reaches for her. One hand glides through her hair while the other gently wipes her tears away, cold fingers cooling her warmed cheeks. "To protect you," he whispers.

She can't help the rainfall of tears that rush faster down her face, her chest heaving with quickened breaths. A split second later, she somehow finds herself mid-air before being curled up on Edward's lap, confined inside an embrace of long limbs. His naturally sweetened aroma surrounds her as she gasps for air and without thinking, she rubs her face into his chest while she cries, his scent strangely helping her cope. Edward soothingly brushes his long fingers through her hair, staying silent and letting her expel the stress he's certain she's been up to her ears in. When the silence stretches on, he hums her a lullaby his mother used to sing him when he was a small child - pressing his lips gently to the side of her head as he does.

Bella suddenly hiccups and leans away from Edward's chest, looking up at him with wide eyes as she repeats their conversation in her mind. She hardly even knew who Edward was, having first met him three days ago, but in some way she felt he was the only person on the entire planet she could talk to. He was definitely the only one dishing out the answers she'd been craving, no matter how painful.

She bravely asks, "Why did Phil have to protect me?" while tiredly wondering on the inside if she even wants to know. Her breathing is strained as she looks back and forth between Edward's eyes, seeing the tortured soul of herself reflecting back at her.

"Isabella..." Edward sighs out while cupping her face. He wishes more than anything that he didn't have to have this conversation with someone he was beginning to care for. Finally, he says, "Our king, Anuka Charles, assigned Phillip the Dreg to you when your mother died in childbirth."

Frowning deeply and biting her lip, she inquires exasperatedly, "Why on Earth would he do that?"

"Because, _mysha_ , Charles was your biological father."

* * *

Half an hour later, Edward is courageously driving Bella's truck down her gravel driveway; steering wheel in one hand, the other holding her leg as she slumbers in the passenger seat. He'd never driven an automobile before this, and was pleasantly surprised at the easiness in which it operated. However, he admits it would be a _much_ smoother ride if the cars humans made hovered like the inventions his kind created.

He looks over at Bella once he parks the truck in her driveway. Even from inside the cab, he can hear Red's joyful howls at the sound of her loud muffler quieting in front of the house. The light from from the front porch filters through the windshield and illuminates her face, and he uses it at his own advantage to inspect her sleeping form. He notes her eyes are swollen with wet eyelashes, dry tear tracks staining her cheeks. Her bottom lip is puffy from all the nervous lip-biting. He brushes the pad of his thumb over her lip and sighs, hoping her dreams are peaceful. He understands that reality is most likely daunting for her right now.

Edward unbuckles both their seat-belts and lifts her into his arms, walking towards the house after they exit the cab. He uses his gifts to open the front door from the inside, choosing not to bother with finding the right key. It's not the first time he's done it and if it comes to Bella, it won't be the last.

Red is standing patiently in the living room with his tail wagging as the door opens. Once he gets sight of the strange man from the night before walking through the threshold with his girl cradled in his arms, his wagging tail drops instantly to the floor. Edward chuckles. Most animals run away from him - he considers Red a very brave dog.

Hoping to appease Bella's loyal pet, he mutters, "It's alright, Red. Your girl just had a long day. Go on out and do your business," he adds absentmindedly, leaving the door open and striding towards Bella's bedroom. Like the night before, he carefully places her on the comforter over her bed and covers her with the throw blanket he finds.

And just like before, he gazes down at her - taking the time to admire the stunning paleness of her skin and the loveliness of her features. How one couldn't obviously see that she was _other_ was beyond him; her skin practically glowed in the moonlight streaming through her windows, her entire being radiating hidden power.

Edward thinks back to their conversations at the landing sight. Hearing the truth that your father isn't really your father is one thing, but being told your biological father is the king of an alien race is, as Bella mumbled before losing consciousness, "fucking crazy." His instinct to comfort her before she passed out was the most intense feeling he's ever known. Her tears drove him mad, knowing she was in pain ripped him apart inside. Once she let go and began sobbing, he could not fight against the compelling urge to pull her closer to him. It's when she fainted that he panicked, and decided to test his driving skills by taking her home.

Scowling, he regrets not giving his _mysha_ more time to adjust.

However, there is still much for her to know and little time with the looming threat of a possible rogue Dreg hunting her.

Edward moves quickly from Bella's bedside to the front of the house, closing the front door and locking the deadbolt when he sees Red lazily sprawled out on the couch. Edward's aware domestic animals have set times to eat, so he makes sure there's food in his dog bowl before returning to Bella's room. He's by her side in an instant after closing her bedroom door, wholeheartedly refusing to let their connection disturb her as she sleeps.

He grasps her small hand that dangles off the side of the mattress and settles his long legs down on the carpet, leaning back against the dresser adjacent her bed. He quietly makes himself comfortable for the long night. Edward is determined to be there for her if she wakes from nightmares; determined to be there for her for anything, really. If she'll let him.

There's always a choice.

* * *

 **A/N:** how'd you like them alien apples? thanks for reading! -sondor


	12. Chapter 12

Please enjoy!

* * *

Last on Selcouth Cosmos:

 _"Our king, Anuka Charles, assigned Phillip the Dreg to you when your mother died in childbirth."_

 _Frowning deeply and biting her lip, she inquires exasperatedly, "Why on Earth would he do that?"_

 _"Because, angel, Charles was your biological father."_

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven:**

Morning light creeps in through Bella's window. The first thing she registers as she begins to wake is the annoying yellow sheen glaring brightly behind her closed eyelids. She scrunches her eyes to block out the streaming sun and rolls to her side. As she does, her mind becomes more awake, and the more alert it becomes, the more exceedingly aware she is of cool fingers entwined with her own.

 _It wasn't a dream_ , her mind whispers, horrified.

Bella's eyes snap open and immediately connect with stained glass jeweled ones directly positioned in her line of sight. She feels his thumb smooth circles on top of her hand, attempting to soothe her, but it doesn't stop the surprised yelp that passes her lips. She knew Edward was there, but wasn't expecting him to be sitting so close.

And close he was. Still dazed from sleep, she distractedly admires the light freckles splattered across the bridge of his nose and the way his mouth purses in concern. For an alien, he had very attractive lips. They form into an amused smile when it's obvious where her attention is, and blushing from being caught, she returns her gaze to his. The sunlight coming through the window splays on his side profile, and she's in total awe when flecks of gold around his pupils reflect off the beams. His expressive eyes melt her beyond her control; she's pretty sure her own pupils are doubled in size of what they normally are. And the way he's looking at her right now, like he's marveling at her as much as she is him, has her belly warming lower and lower - something no man has successfully, until now, elicited such reactions.

Funny, he's not even a man.

"Is is true?" she questions sleepily - referencing to not only Edward himself being an extraterrestrial being, but her biological father, too. Bella may have 'fallen asleep' earlier than she expected, but that doesn't mean she couldn't perfectly recollect every conversation they shared in the flower ridden field where he had led her.

They blink at each other as Edward nods his head twice.

Bella squeezes her eyes shut. What could being the daughter of an alien king mean? Did that technically make her a princess? Unsure of the mechanisms of Annunaki culture, she opens her eyes and mouth, one hundred questions lingering on the back of her tongue. She's hardly been awake five minutes, and her heart's already pounding like an angry woodpecker violently going at a metal mailbox with its beak.

Edward hears the way Bella's heart stutters and interrupts her before she's able to voice her curiosity, kindly suggesting, "How about we get some food in you first? You must be running on empty."

Her stomach chooses that moment to gurgle its desires, Edward's quiet honeyed laugh like music to her ears. And as her tummy protests, so does her awakened bladder. She shifts her legs over the side of the bed and makes to get up, all the while still awkwardly holding Edward's hand. She mumbles something along the lines of, "sounds good," and watches him stand from his stretched out position on the floor. His long limbs took up the majority of the space from her bed to dresser, and she wonders idly if he had sat there all night. Most likely not.

"I'll be in the kitchen," he says while squeezing her hand, and in the blink of an eye, is gone out of her room with the door shutting softly behind him. She stands once it's shut, gaping at the blatant speed he just displayed. She hardly registered any pain from their connection. Was her mind really that slow this morning, or was he incredibly fast?

Shaking her weary head, Bella walks over to her bathroom, letting out a muttered curse when her pinky toe jams against the door frame. She checks for blood, only noticing swollen pink flesh.

She sighs. The universe is truly out to get her.

Wobbling to the toilet, she does her business and proceeds to wash her hands in the sink. Once they're dry, she drops a dollop of toothpaste onto her toothbrush and scrubs off the morning breath clinging to her teeth. She makes eye contact with herself in the mirror above the sink as she brushes, noticing how drained and lifeless her eyes look. It was a pretty accurate representation of how she felt inwardly - drained with no life left to use.

Bella splashes water on her face once she's done brushing her teeth, willing her face to look a little more alive and waking herself up in the process. She had a plethora of questions that needed answering, and she wanted to be completely alert for what's to come. She quickly takes a hairbrush to her wild locks, thinking if the water doesn't wake her up then maybe the pain of brushing out knots will.

A few minutes later, Bella leaves her bathroom with a tamed head of hair and eyes more awake than when she went in. She strips off the clothes she wore from yesterday and replaces them with a clean outfit. As she's throwing her dirty clothes in the hamper, she notices the green throw blanket spread out on the bed - she was distracted earlier when she first woke up and hadn't noticed it. Her comforter was untouched with the exception of her body's imprint on top. Edward must have covered her with the blanket she usually keeps on the end of her bed.

Then suddenly, standing in the middle of her room, the memory of waking up the same way the day before pushes to the front of her mind - sequentially coming to the realization that for the second day in a row, she's awakened tucked underneath her throw blanket instead of the comforter she normally makes a habit of burrowing into like a meerkat.

And like a bucket of ice water being doused over her head, she concludes, _it hadn't been Yellow in my house that night._

Bella stalks to her bedroom door and flings it open, uncaring when the metal handle makes a loud _smack_ against the wall. She strides down the hallway and straight into the kitchen, coming to a stop a few feet behind Edward, his back facing her as he prepares something on the stove-top.

She completely ignores the pain that ignites inside of her, teeth grinding in anger as she taps him on the shoulder. He immediately turns and finds her shockingly enraged eyes pointed directly at him. And in that moment as she glares daggers at him, Bella forgets about the universe and the problems it's brought upon her, and instead points a finger into Edward's chest, outraged he had invaded her personal privacy by entering her home while she slept.

"You were here the night before, _why_?" She asks, punctuating her question with another poke to the chest.

Edward sighs and wraps his elegant fingers around the small one digging at his chest, bringing both of their hands down to their middle. "I was coming to extract you," he mutters, before releasing her hand and turning back to the stove.

His arm makes a movement in which she believes him to be flipping something, her eyes watching him as her jaw hangs open before she nearly yells, " _extract_ me? What does that even mean?"

"Maybe if you took a breath," Edward retorts as his head looks at her over his shoulder, "I'd be able to explain."

Bella inhales at his sass, glaring at the back of his head when he returns to the stove-top.

"Yeah, well, while your standing here in _my_ kitchen using _my_ stuff to make food, I'll be phoning the authorities to let them know there's a freaking _alien_ in my hou-," She isn't able to finish her sentence. One of Edward's strong, long arms wrap around her waist and hoist her up onto the counter. The hand holding her grips her waist tightly, while the other rests at her neck, thumb tracing lightly underneath her chin and along her jawline. He tilts her head back so her only option is to look into his eyes, giving her a saucy grin when unwavering anger scorches through her gaze.

"Now, now, little halfling," Edward hums as his face inches closer to hers, "don't forget that you are what you call _alien_ , as well," he purrs, voice clearly mimicking hers, before he adds, "I would love to clear things up, but I can't do that if you're threatening to turn me in."

The fight Bella had within her deflates at his words, her form softening within his solid grip. She hopes he knows her words were just talk, she would have never put any action into it. She was mad that he was in her house without her knowledge, yes, but most of the anger she just experienced had been built up since Phil's death and Yellow's appearance. "I'm sorry," she whispers. She was ashamed for her outburst, but also glad now that her mind was swimming free of animosity, albeit constantly brimming with curiosity when it comes to him.

"It's okay," Edward murmurs. The fingers draped along her neck push through thick hair and rub tepidly up and down her scalp. Bella pushes her head against his palm, the feeling of his fingers in her hair wholesomely satisfying when paired with the tingling sensation she experiences at their touch. She's hyper-aware of every part of him and is seconds from throwing her legs around his waist, before she reluctantly acknowledges in the back of her mind that she should be throwing questions at him left and right, not cuddling up with him on her kitchen counter.

Bella's at war with herself when, thankfully, Edward makes the decision for her and leans back to turn the stove off with the hand that had been buried in her hair. He shifts his hips away from her legs and offers her a hand to get down. She jumps from the counter without accepting, wrapping her arms around herself as she walks to a chair at the dining room table and sits down. She ignores the blistering pain she feels being away from his touch.

Her forefront thought as she does so being, _I want to kiss an alien._

Minutes later, Edward places a healthy looking omelet on the table in front of Bella, touching her shoulder gently once he's pulled up a chair of his own. He wished for her to eat in peace without suffering from pain.

She's still staring at her hands in disbelief when he knocks on the table after a moment of silence, wondering out loud if she needed anything else. She shakes her head and looks at the egg dish he prepared her, mouth immediately drooling at the mushrooms and green bell peppers she spies peeking out. Bella can't deny it looks edible and non-poisoned, and with that reasoning, she says a quiet thank you and picks her fork up to take a chunk out of the end, closing her eyes and moaning in delight when it reaches her taste-buds.

She opens her eyes to find Edward staring at her with a slack jaw. Bella's cheeks bloom as she reaches for a napkin and wipes at her mouth, mumbling once she's swallowed, "I eat, you talk."

His head slowly nods as his mouth snaps shut. He squeezes her shoulder and sighs deeply. Bella takes another bite while she waits. "You wanted to know why I was here the night before last," he clarifies, Bella almost rolls her eyes before nodding in agreement. "I told you I came to extract you - and that's the truth. I was sent here to watch over you.. study you.. and ultimately make the decision if you were worthy enough to take over the throne in place of Anuka Charles."

Her full fork lay frozen in front of her waiting mouth as she stares at him.

Edward continues. "I was supposed to take you with me to the landing sight, and from there we could have began our travels to my home. And I was going to, take you that is, until I saw how small you were curled up on the floor with your dog." He briefly smiles at the memory. "And at that point all I saw was a young woman who needed someone, anyone, to be there for her. So that's what I did. I was, well... tried, to be there for you." Bella's fork had lowered to her plate and is steadily forgotten about as he progresses further into his explanation, "and when I finally tucked you in and looked down at you, something just," he pauses, "shifted."

"Shifted?" Bella whispers.

"Yeah," Edward murmurs back, moving his hand from her shoulder to cup her cheek, "I thought I had been imagining it, but at that moment I began experiencing feelings I've never felt before.. I knew then that you were really my mate."

* * *

 **A/N:** I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, it was fun writing it. thanks for the amazing reviews, the feedback is phenomenal! I'm very grateful :) more answers are sure to reveal themselves in the upcoming chapters, stay tuned! - sondor


	13. Chapter 13

Please enjoy!

* * *

Last on Selcouth Cosmos:

 _"-and when I finally tucked you in and looked down at you, something just... shifted."_

 _"Shifted?" Bella whispers._

 _"Yeah," Edward murmurs back, moving his hand from her shoulder to cup her cheek, "I thought I had been imagining it, but at that moment I began experiencing feelings I've never felt before. I knew then that you were really my mate."_

* * *

 **Chapter Twelve:  
**

Bella is quiet with thought until she breaks the silence by voicing, "I thought… that you already knew I was your mate, before that night." The hand Edward had on her cheek slides back down her neck and further down her arm, and finally to her hand. He twines their fingers together, tapping his thumb rhythmically on hers.

Edward hums and shrugs. "Yes, I definitely had my suspicions," he says, "however, sometimes our kind can be… attracted to others that aren't our mate, but that only happens if we haven't felt the true mating call yet. When I showed myself to you that day in the library, I felt a pull but ignored it. I didn't feel the pain that my elders always told stories of, yet I did feel a tightening in my chest when I looked at you. It was confusing and I was certain it would pass-" He takes a breath. "-I was hoping it would pass, after all, I had a mission to complete. I thought it strange that you had such intense physical reactions whenever I'm near, and I tested my theories that day I came to your class. My suspicions were very high at that point, since you would relax every time I put a hand on you. And on the night I came here to take you, I saw you Bella, and I just knew."

She closes her eyes and whispers, "I feel so much pain around you."

He tightens his fingers around hers. "I have a theory about that," he says before pointedly looking at the forgotten, half-eaten omelet sitting in front of her. She grudgingly picks up her loaded fork and shoves it in her mouth to appease him.

Satisfied, he continues. "As I said before, I don't feel the pain you feel whatsoever, just a pull. And it appears to me as though you are taking the full brunt of our connection-"

She swallows, muttering _fabulous_ underneath her breath.

"-and I believe it might be because of our being on Earth."

"Excuse me?" Bella asks, halting the fork headed towards her mouth.

Edward smiles and then patiently explains, "I think the mating call hits you full force because you're half-Anuka and I am full Anuka, and here on Earth, the disposition of gravity may be changing the way it projects within us."

"So my mother..?" she wonders aloud.

"Was human, yes," he finishes, "which makes you a halfling. Humans possessing Anuka blood in their veins are extremely rare - I've searched and no one has written in our ancient books of this ever happening," his brow creases, "and I believe that's why I was so skeptical of you being my mated pair."

Bella frowns as she resumes the motion of placing a fork-full of puffy egg and mushroom into her mouth.

"I couldn't go through with taking you once I finally realized what was happening," Edward says after a beat of silence.

Swallowing, she asks, "how come?"

"We aren't allowed," he responds.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Bella gives him a look that says _go on_.

"Our technology is able to locate exact DNA compatible species within thousands of galaxies, true - however, we Anuka fiercely believe in free will, and can never under any circumstances, take an unwilling mate away from their home planet." His eyes flash to hers, something like fear flashing behind them before she could articulate exactly what it was she saw.

"So..." Bella murmurs, before softly concluding, "You can't take me unless I want to go."

Edward nods slowly once, looking over her shoulder with lips thinned into a straight line. She wonders what's going through his mind.

"Is that what happened with my mom?" Bella questions. "She decided to stay?"

His gaze shifts back to meet hers, deep jade colliding with molten caramel.

"No, angel. I had no knowledge that you or your mother even existed until Anuka Charles died and left me a letter," he says, heaving a sigh. "In the letter, Charles explained that he had been placed on Earth nearly twenty-three years ago for a scouting mission, the last one he would be apart of before he was crowned king. There, he meets your mother, Renee, and then goes on to say that he fell in love with her instantly, although there was no mating call to speak of. In the week he was on Earth, you were created," Edward pauses to let her brain adjust to that information, before continuing. "But..." he says carefully, "only mates are allowed back to our home planet."

Bella drops her fork, metal clanging against dishware. "He just left her alone and pregnant?!"

His solemn eyes watch her as he nods. "He wrote that it was the most agonizing thing having to leave Renee, and at the time, he had no idea that he was leaving you, too. He didn't know Renee was with child until months later, having only found out when he sent his loyal Dreg personnel to check on her." Edward's cool fingers brush against her palms. "He had that same Dreg stay and guard her from the shadows, protecting her with his life as she grew rounder and rounder. And when she gave birth...," he trails off.

"I killed her," Bella says bluntly, her eyes beginning to glaze with tears. "I've always known that."

Edward scoots to the edge of his chair closer to her, one of his legs coming between hers as he firmly grips her hands in his. "No, you should never blame yourself for that, Bella," he earnestly whispers, her name smoothly rolling off his tongue. "Her human body was just too frail to support an Anuka child. If anything, dare I say it, the one to blame is Charles for not being more careful."

She shrugs although she can't say she wholeheartedly agrees. She's had to deal with the knowledge that she killed her own mother all her life, and changing how she felt about it wouldn't change overnight. Edward reaches up to her face and brushes away the single tear that made it onto her cheek. He looks at her in question, probably wondering if she's alright, and she waves one hand in a gesture that says _I'm okay_ , _continue_.

He licks his lower lip, distracting her for a hot second, then quickly dives back into his explanation. "The Dreg whom Charles assigned stayed with Renee until she gave birth, and once she passed on, that very same Dreg protected her newborn daughter and legally signed his name as the biological father when a birth certificate was presented."

"Phil..." Bella croaks as Edward agrees silently. Her heart hurts at the mention of him but her mind trails down a different path. "But then," she wonders, "since I'm half-Anuka, why didn't he just take me back to his... _your_ home planet?"

"Renee's will specifically forbade it."

"What?"

"In Renee's will," he clarifies, "she stated that 'in the event of death, all of my belongings and wealth are to be placed in Bella's possession on _planet Earth_ '. She even italicized 'planet Earth'. Anuka Charles respected her wishes and left you to grow as a human child among other human beings." Edward flashes a brief smile, before adding, "with the exception of an ancient extraterrestrial watching over you at all times, of course."

"Of course, of course," Bella mutters, before asking in an aggravated tone, "and now what? I have to choose, correct? Let me get my options straight here, Edward - I either rule over a species I know nothing about, or stay here and die by the hands of some freak with yellow eyes, right?"

He opens his mouth to speak but she beats him to it by standing up from her chair and pulling her hand from his, ignoring the fiery licks of pain coursing through her veins and the way Edward's worried eyes watch her as she slowly walks towards her bedroom.

"I need to think," she mumbles once she arrives to her door, and from there, effectively cuts off their connection when it closes shuts.

* * *

 **A/N:** I think B is in a glass case of emotions rn. as always, thank you for reading and for reviewing your thoughts! -sondor


	14. Chapter 14

Please enjoy!

* * *

Last on Selcouth Cosmos:

" _-and now what? I have to choose, correct? Just let me get my options straight here, Edward - I either rule over a species I know nothing about, or stay here and die by the hands of some freak with yellow eyes, right?"_

 _He opens his mouth to speak but she beats him to it by standing up from her chair and pulling her hand from his, ignoring the fiery licks of pain coursing through her veins and the way Edward's worried eyes watch her as she slowly walks towards her bedroom._

 _"I need to think," Bella mumbles once she arrives to her door, and from there, effectively cuts off their connection when it closes shuts._

* * *

 **Chapter Thirteen:**

Bella slides her ass to the floor with her heart pounding, leaning her head against the closed bedroom door. She grips the carpet below her with tight fingers as her breathing hitches, every inhale becoming more and more heavy with each passing thought. She was crushed flat underneath the weight of the pressure she felt. Too much was happening too fast. There was an excessive amount of information to think over, and she had a difficult time sticking to one thought before it shattered in replace of a new one.

Her breathing doesn't steady until almost an hour later.

A repeated loop of thoughts burst randomly through her mind - how abandoned her mother must have felt when Charles left her, and the seething anger she held for the man she never knew and would never know. She thought of the truth that her entire life has been one enormous charade up until this point, and what being Edward's mate might mean and if that's something she could even _want_. She frets over these topics before switching her concern over to possibly the most daunting one: the decision in succeeding her extraterrestrial, biological father's throne.

She cringes, hardly able to stand the thought. The words in her head sound impossible and the idea of putting any action into deciding was an even more difficult prospect to fathom. Her fingers release the carpet, visibly white knuckles contrasting against dark blue fibers, before they lift from the floor and rub at her weary eyes.

A muffled _ping_ echoes through her room causing Bella to drop her hands from her face in surprise. She stands up and searches the room with her eyes, knowing it's her phone that's made the familiar notification sound. It isn't until she's searched through the bathroom and dirty clothes hamper that she successfully finds it hidden underneath her comforter. It must have wiggled its way there while she slept last night.

She checks her messages, noticing right away they're all from Rose. All seven of them.

The first pair being sent around five o'clock.

 _hey bitch my date is arriving soon wish me luck xoxo_

 _damn he just pulled up in the nicest car. im shook lol_

Close to an hour later, Rose messages her again.

 _hey you okay? I tried calling you while he was in the bathroom but the bot said you didn't have a signal_

Another hour later,

 _you're kinda worrying me Bella_

Followed by;

 _my date is being creepy af. he was cool at first but started asking a lot of weird fucking questions_

 _I hope you've just been sleeping all night and you're not in like perilous danger or something ugh answer me woman_

And about ten minutes after that, Rose sends her last message.

 _yep fuck this shit, going home. thought about stopping by but don't wanna wake you if you're sleeping. I know how hard good sleep is to come by for you... love you bellybutt xo_

Bella reads through the messages again, her brow furrowing when Rose's attitude abruptly changes towards her date halfway through. Yesterday morning, she had been gushing about this guy, _Riley_ , she remembers, and how much they had clicked. And then all of a sudden, she gets turned off by some weird questions?

She taps away on her phone. _hey sorry, I think I caught the flu and was sleeping like you predicted. you're the tits for worrying tho, love you._ She sighs sadly at her screen for telling a white lie before sending another text. _what kind of weird questions was this guy asking?_

For a short couple moments, she had a distraction from the setting reality ongoing in her life, and after minutes of no text back from Rosalie, it comes crashing down on her all over again. She tucks her phone in her pocket and leans back on her bed, letting her thoughts consume her.

What exactly did it mean being Anuka royalty? The king being her father made her a princess of sorts, and now with him dead and Bella the only available heir... she would technically be a queen. And if she decided to have Edward as her mate.. would that make him king? It hadn't really set in until that moment. It sounded all so ridiculous in her head and it was certainly not something easily swallowed. She was still trying to process the fact that Edward was basically her one true soulmate in the entire known universe. Her body felt it. Sometimes, her heart felt it. It was her mind that revolted from the very thought.

Permanent commitment was one of the things Bella feared most. Her pseudo-father had often said that losing Renee was like ripping a hole through his chest. For years she grew up with Phil posing as a single parent with a supposedly broken heart, and eventually the fear of loving someone to the fullest and then abruptly losing them festered within her. Why give your heart away when it will just be crushed in the end?

For theoretical purposes, say she agreed to leave Earth as Edward's mate.. she would be on a completely different planet with absolutely zero connections or ties with anyone and no knowledge of the inhabitants or customs found there. She would be leaving the life she had behind, the people she knew behind... Red and Rose... all of it would be gone and far, far away from her grasp. If Charles wasn't allowed on scouting missions once he was crowned, she doubts she'd be allowed, either. If she decided to take the thrown and Edward as her mate, there was a huge chance she would never see her home, dog or best friend again. And what if Edward decided she wasn't good enough to be his mate once they arrived? Then she would be stranded, alone, on an unknown planet.

Her heart pangs.

Trying to stay positive, she ponders over if there is anything to gain from leaving Earth. Bella has always loved to learn, especially about astrology. And the opportunity of expansive knowledge definitely appealed to her. She could potentially study multiple planets and beings, such of which no human has ever seen - scientists would drool 'till they fill a pool with that kind of fortuity. But would they jump at that chance if they had to govern those planets - and if they could never return home?

Bella sighs deep, deep from within her. She'd been in her room for almost two hours now. Her chaotic mind had finally calmed down enough to develop organized thoughts; all of them eventually turning into unanswered, open-ended questions. And admittedly, she realizes now that she can't have all the answers if she stays hidden in her room. Her source for them is in the dining room.

Well, _was_. She wouldn't blame Edward if he left the premises after her little meltdown, in fact, she fully expected him to. No one enjoys being yelled at for things they can't control. On the off chance he was still here... she'd really like to apologize.

After sitting up and gradually easing off the bed, she walks the short distance to her bedroom door and carefully opens it, feeling a flare of pain throughout her nerves when she touches the metal handle.

In hindsight, she was really glad she opened the door slowly. Edward had been sitting against the other end of it, and as the door opens, the weight of him leaning against it nearly concluded with him flat on his back. He catches himself at the last second with his hands, using the momentum to lift himself to his feet. He stands so tall over her once he's at his full height, and she watches as he nervously runs a hand through his hair and clears his throat.

Edward stayed and now he was nervous - she didn't know what that meant. The pain, as always, made it hard to think.

And when he opens his mouth and murmurs a heartfelt, "I'm sorry," Bella feels even more puzzled.

"What?" Is her first response, before she says, "No, _I'm_ sorry. I shouldn't have yelled."

Edward looks at her with wide eyes before letting loose the most carefree laugh she's heard yet. Her lips curl up despite the fire pulsing through her body, wondering on the side what it was she said that was funny and if she could see his smile more often.

"Sorry for laughing," he responds once he catches his breath. "It's shocking you would apologize for something like that. Honestly I was expecting you to yell more... I can hardly imagine how upside down your world must be right now." His head bows, breaking eye contact as he whispers, "I'm so sorry for pushing you."

For the first time since they've met, Bella initiates contact. Her fingers brush against his before finding hold and squeezing gently. The pain fades instantly and they both smile shyly at each other when Edward's startled gaze finds hers.

"It's like ripping off a band-aid. It still stings but I'll get over it," she hums. His fingers link through hers. "You shouldn't apologize for things you have no control over."

Edward chuckles. "Isn't there a human saying about a pot calling a kettle black?"

She rolls her eyes, assuming he's talking about the blame she puts on herself for her mothers death. "That's different."

He smirks though his gaze turns sad. "Sure it is." The tilt of his lips drops, his eyes searching hers. "No matter - I'm still sorry."

Bella sighs, absorbed in a sea of green. "Make it up to me and answer some more questions?"

"Anything for you, _mysha_."

* * *

 **A/N:** B is perhaps maybe starting to get a grip? what are your thoughts? thank you for reading! -sondor


	15. Chapter 15

Please enjoy!

* * *

Last on Selcouth Cosmos:

 _"Anything for you, mysha."_

* * *

 **Chapter Fourteen:**

"I guess that could be my first question," Bella says as she tugs Edward's hand down the hallway. They enter the living room and sit down side-by-side on the couch. Red is curled in front of the fireplace, unaware of the many life changes going on around him. She was so stricken last night and this morning that she'd accidentally forgotten her responsibilities as a dog mom, and kicks herself in the butt for not letting him out and making sure he had food. He seems totally relaxed where he lays though, and she has a small inkling Edward was the reason for that.

Returning her attention to the interrogation at hand, she meets Edward's gaze. "What does _mysha_ mean?" He's called her that a couple times since they've met, and at first she thought it was another word for human, but now every time he calls her that certain term, he gets this revered look in his eyes.

He smiles, teeth glinting from behind his lips. "The most accurate translation to English is angel."

Bella purses her mouth and nods, stomach stirring at the way he's looking at her. She remembers him calling her angel in English a couple times in the past- but why? She wonders aloud her thoughts and he squeezes their entwined fingers.

"That night I came for you," he murmurs, "I tucked you away in your bed, and your planet's moon shined through your window and reflected off your skin... you nearly glowed - similar to an angel. A _mysha_."

Her heart jumps as goosebumps cover her arms. She can't help the physical reaction she has when his voice drops to a purr at the end of his sentence. It flows like honey from his lips and she subconsciously leans closer to him. Briefly, she ponders over his words and wonders if it's the mating connection talking, or Edward himself, and that line of thought shakes her from her trance enough to move on.

"Okay," she hums, "next question. And I don't mean to sound rude, but I was curious why it is you don't appear more..."

"Alien?" Edward finishes, and she bobs her head in response. "Genetically, you and I are very similar beings, although - and not to sound rude," he says winking, mimicking the words she'd just used and causing her goosebumps to return. "-an Anuka brain is massively more evolved than a homo sapien brain. We have access to parts found throughout our minds that humans could only dream of using. And with that knowledge, our kind eventually engineered specialized advanced technology, and soon after that, the opportunity for efficient genetic transfiguration was available to us." Edward takes a breath and taps his fingers on his knee. "You still with me?"

She squints her eyes. "Genetic transfiguration? Like you can change out body parts?"

He smirks to himself. "Sort of... I guess I could have tentacles for arms if I really wanted to, but no, mostly we use the _g_ _entra_ \- that's what we call the machine - to do what your plastic surgeons here on Earth work their entire lives to perfect. It precisely and quickly adjusts appearances to the liking of an Anuka - for example, I had my ears and fangs trimmed in a matter of seconds. And not only does-"

Bella blanches. "Uh, wait a second. _Fangs_? You had your _ears_ trimmed?"

Edward smiles deviously and nods. She checks for said fangs as he grins and only sees a pristine row of white, even teeth. Her wide eyes meet his, waiting for an explanation.

"Full-blooded Anuka resemble Earth bats. You know... pointed ears, sharp fangs."

Her hand squeezes his as her heart thumps wildly in her chest. Despite her fingers clenching his tightly, she remains having an outwardly cool composure, humoring herself by saying, "So, basically, your planet is full of nosferatu look-alikes."

Edward chuckles. "Unfortunately. The look is a little outdated, since we really have no need for fangs or pointed ears. They were needed thousands of years ago, while technology was still being designed and built and perfected. Fangs were to catch prey, larger ears were to hear them."

Bella gazes at him doubtfully before looking towards the area where his ears would be if they weren't covered by a wild amount of copper hair. She reaches out her free hand to inspect further before rearing back and staring him in the eyes. "May I?" she whispers questioningly.

"Of course," he says, lowering his head closer to hers. They're a breath away from each other and Bella's throat immediately dries at the proximity. She shakily inhales as her hands stretches up to his hair. He doesn't look away from her and she doesn't fight the impulse to stare back - entranced by the way they were saying a number of things to each other without even speaking. When her fingers make contact with soft strands of hair, he leans impossibly closer, and she's momentarily blinded by ample lips and how incredibly close they are to hers.

Her breaths come out in small puffs, fighting what she knows _has_ to be the mating connection. There was no other way to excuse her want for... well... _him_ , when she hardly even knows anything about who he was. Her fingers brush through his hair until her pointer finger comes in contact with a cool ear, and at that point, she's distracted enough to pull away from their staring contest. She feels the curve of his ear with the pads of her fingers.

"Feels normal," Bella whispers breathlessly, leaning away.

Edward rasps a laugh. "Normal for you."

"Then why did you change them?"

"I used the _g_ _entra_ before beginning my travels to Earth. I needed to appear as human as possible," he explains, pausing as he clears his throat. "Frankly, it's becoming a trend within Anuka society to trim the fangs and ears, so it's didn't bother me much at all to get that procedure done. What's truly fascinating... is that the _g_ _entra_ alters your DNA whilst removing or adding parts to the body, and the result is ultimately genetically hereditary."

Bella cocks her head, glancing over at him as she digests that. "So if two Anuka get their teeth and ears trimmed and have a child, that child will have trimmed ears and teeth, as well?"

"Correct. We purposely evolve ourselves."

Bella's mind is blown. "I don't think humans have even thought of achieving something like that," she responds.

He agrees with a nod, muttering lowly, "and they won't - at least not a for a very, very long time."

They share a tense moment of silence, Bella breaking it with her next question. "Why do you think my mother didn't want me to leave Earth?"

Edward sighs. "That's hard to say; perhaps she wanted you to have a normal life," he guesses aloud as his brow creases. "I'm assuming she knew what Charles was, even though sharing that knowledge is strictly against our law. Maybe she developed a grudge when he left, and didn't want you associated with him."

Both of those reasons seem plausible enough to her and she moves on.

"Could you tell me more about how the mating call works?"

Edward agrees though the tips of his ears turn a light shade of pink. "Like I was saying before, Anuka have a larger brain capacity than most extraterrestrial beings. We've evolved quicker than any other being in the known galaxies, and with that being said, our senses are heightened to the extreme. When a full-blooded Anuka finds it's one perfectly compatible mate, their genetic coding comes out of dormancy and projects outwardly - hence the painful connection until body contact."

"Does it ever stop?" Bella asks, then clarifies, "the pain, I mean."

She's surprised to see his cheeks slowly begin to match his rosey-tipped ears. "Yes," he finally mumbles.

"When?" is her quick response, fascinated when Edward grows increasingly nervous. He swallows hard and wiggles around in an anxious manner, tapping his fingers repeatedly against his leg.

Just as she's about to ask if he's alright, he blurts out, "The pain only stops once the mated pair consummate the union."

Bella freezes completely and they stare at each other for an achingly silent couple of seconds. She finds it woefully ironic that she had never been with a man before, and then here comes the universe fucking shit up like always, literally forcing her to have sex with a guy she hardly knew to stop the agonizing pain in her body. Well, of course not _literally_ forcing her. Edward made it clear she had a choice - she'd just have to find a way to deal with the pain when they aren't touching until she decides.

"Alright," Bella drawls out in the awkward silence, noticing how both of them are nervously avoiding each other's gaze. "Good to know, I suppose. Next question?"

Edward visibly relaxes and gives her a fleeting look. "Please."

She sighs lightly, so glad that moment was over with, and asks, "how old are you?"

"Here on Earth? Twenty-five."

Squinting, she wonders, "and on your planet?"

"On _Creo_ , my home, I am three-hundred and fifty-two."

 _What the fuck!_ her mind screeches. Outwardly, her jaw pops open, a seemingly calm, "oh," escaping from her lips. Bella bites her bottom lip and takes a deep breath through her nose. A memory from yesterday suddenly pops into her head. Edward had said the book he gifted her was almost as old as he was, and how when he winked, she had assumed he'd been joking. Bella definitely didn't think he was joking now.

Edward speculates she's about to mentally collapse when she abruptly gasps, "you could be my great-great-great grandfather!"

"But I'm not," he says with wide eyes, explaining, "time moves differently on my planet, so the Anuka aging process does as well. I can live well over a thousand years without even graying." His hand reaches up and shoves his hair around. "But I will eventually die."

She frowns and and decides to move on, thinking she'll have time to analyze all this information later and that there are other questions to be answered. "If I take the throne... will that make me queen?"

"Yes," he responds.

"If you and I... you know..." Bella mumbles shyly, "would that make you king?"

He shrugs and smiles at her reassuringly. "Only if you appointed it to be so. It would be your call as Queen Anuka."

Her heart patters at the sound of the title she could potentially own. _So many decisions_.

"If I decided to stay here on Earth and you returned back to your home, would you ever find another mate?"

"Another may seek my attention," he murmurs in response, "but I know for a fact there is not a single soul in any galaxy that could catch my eye after you, _mysha_."

Bella's cheeks glow bright pink, now knowing the meaning of that word. His advanced alien eye doctors must not be as great as he says they are.

Edward chuckles and brings his free hand to wisp away a strand of hair, before settling it back down on his leg. "Our advanced alien eye doctors are quite capable, thank you. I could be blind and still be able to tell how stunning you are." She hadn't realized she'd spoken out loud and blushes further before changing the subject altogether.

"So," she squeaks, "what exactly would I rule if I said yes?"

He looks at her closely. "Are you sure you won't faint or storm into another room?" She rolls her eyes and nods. "Well," he starts, "you would be making the final decisions organized by the Anuka _quora_ , an Annunaki to English translation for _quora_ being the word 'congress', and with the help of ancient Anuka advisors, you would oversee the well-being of a dozen planets, each inhabited with a plethora of different species."

"That's fucking crazy," Bella whispers. One dog was enough responsibility for her, but twelve whole planets?

Edward laughs lightly. "So you've been saying."

She ignores him. "Would I ever be able to return home?"

Indecision flashes through his eyes, and he confirms her fears when he speaks. "Not likely."

It crushes her to hear that her suspicions were correct. Her life on Earth would be over if she accepted.

"However," Edward voices again, "with your ruling, there's a slim possibility for change. Charles was never able to convince the _quora_ , but perhaps your spitfire passion can sway them."

Bella clings to that hope, before asking, "I know only mates are allowed back to _Creo_ , but is it possible to bring a dog with me if I were to go?"

They both glance over to Red, who is lazily sprawled out on his back with his legs bent high in the air. A small smile finds its way to Bella's face, an automatic response around her goofy dog. She couldn't imagine leaving him behind and living in a world without him.

Edward thumbs his bottom lip in thought as he looks at the big red giant. Bella's vision unintentionally tracks every movement he makes, returning her gaze back to Red once his hand lowers from his mouth. "I'm not sure," he concludes. "I don't even know if a domestic dog from your world would survive on my planet, or if it's even allowed, but I will find out for you."

Bella mutters a distracted, "thanks," and continues to look at Red, hoping with everything in her there's a chance she could bring her dog-son. She understood Rosalie couldn't come with her, but it was impossible not to think of how much an easier decision it'd be if her friend could join her. She shakes her head. Her mind is simmering hotly with information, and she's just about had enough with this session, except for the one lingering question nagging in the back of her brain.

"How long do I have to decide?" Her voice is quiet and she looks away from her dog back to Edward. Bella had saved this question for last with the intention of learning most of the information first without needlessly worrying over the deadline.

Edward searches her soul with his eyes, and then carefully murmurs,

"One week."

* * *

 **A/N:** that was _a lot_ of information. I hope those answers were satisfying, E is definitely trying his best here lol. thank you for reading and for the amazingly thoughtful reviews! y'all rock and inspire me to post quick updates :) -sondor

 **Annunaki Lang. Help** :   
_gentra_ (jenn-traw): genetic transfiguration machine  
 _quora_ (core-ah): congress  
 _Creo_ (kree-oh): Anuka home planet  
 _mysha_ (mee-shaw): angel


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N:** I'd just like to take a quick moment to express my gratitude towards those recommending this fic on other sites and those following along with each chapter as I update it. I never expected this kind of response and it absolutely blows me away how much you all seem to be enjoying it so far. I'm not an experienced writer by any means, however I strive often to improve and this story will hopefully be evidence of my progress. I'm honored to have all of you following along on this journey of mine. tysm :)

Now onto the good stuff! Sit back, relax, and please enjoy!

* * *

Last on Selcouth Cosmos:

 _"How long do I have to decide?" Her voice is quiet and she looks away from her dog back to Edward. Bella had saved this question for last with the intention of learning most of the information first without needlessly worrying over the deadline._

 _Edward searches her soul with his eyes, and then carefully murmurs,_

 _"One week."_

* * *

 **Chapter Fifteen:**

The living room is eerily still - the whole house, in fact, seems stationary and motionless in time. Bella does not notice this silence as there is a stampeding noise erratically filling the walls of her mind. Screeches in what sound like her voice echo angrily within her head, warning her to run while she still can, and an even louder, more panicked version of her voice worries thoughts of how seven days was not enough time for a decision of this magnitude.

"One week..." she repeats emotionless into the quiet room. Somewhere next to her, Edward responds back, although his voice sounds like static once it reaches her ears. She thinks she feels his hands grip and squeeze her fingers but can't be sure since her body is numb all over. Her eyes are open but they don't see anything except undefined, blurry shapes.

Memories of her and Rose playing as children, and later going through life's problems together as young adults, flow steadily through her mind. The two of them have gone through everything together - from their very first experience with the tooth fairy when they were both seven years old, to the unfortunate time of Phil's death nearly eight months ago. Rose had held her hand through it all. She was even there the day Phil had brought home a small great dane puppy for Bella after one of his many business trips. The thirteen year old girls got one look at his red fur, and the rest was history - Red the solidifying glue to their friendship, the three of them remaining thick as thieves to this very day.

How could she possibly decide if she were to leave them in just one measly week?

Her chest aches with every pound of her heart, and she doesn't even realize she'd stopped breathing until Edward cups her heated face in his cool hands and urges her through the static in her ears to, "please Bella, _breathe._ " Air escapes her lungs, immediately followed by a violent inhale and several harsh pants afterward. Her vision returns with each breath - iridescent green eyes appearing so close to hers once her gaze finally settles clear.

Bella struggles to find her voice. "One week?" she clarifies again. Her heartbreak is evident when his copper-covered head moves up and down in a solemn nod. He watches helplessly as defeated tears well in her eyes, her entire body shaking with the effort of keeping sobs at bay. How anyone could accept this reality and be fine with it was completely ludicrous.

Edward's palms are still cupping her jaw and cheek, and soon his fingers delve into her hair, rubbing soothing patterns on her scalp as his thumbs simultaneously apply slight pressure onto her temples. Bella closes her eyes and leans into his hands as her breathing steadies out. She's surprised by how comfortable she was around him now. Just two days ago, she was fickle about letting him have a hand on her leg. However she acknowledges she's learned a lot in these two days and the current circumstances differed from then. One thing she knew for certain though, was that she was extremely glad it was Edward who was sent to extract her, and not some other Anuka. If he hadn't been her mate, then she wouldn't have had the choice to stay and by this time she would have most likely been traveling at wickedly high speeds back to his home planet, _Creo_.

She was thankful to have a choice, but why such a short deadline?

"Is there a reason why I only have a week?" Bella quietly questions, internally loathing how weak she sounded.

Edward winces. "Yes. I have a month on Earth until the aging process catches up with me. I have been here for two weeks."

"What do you mean by aging process?"

"If I stay for seven more days after today," he murmurs, "the atmospheric conditions on this planet will alter my very biochemistry, making my body age rapidly to fit the appropriate age I really am and thus, turning me into dust."

She gawks at how calmly he explains his potential death. "You're saying you'll age..." she quickly does the math in her head, "three-hundred and twenty-seven years all in one sitting?"

"Yes," he whispers. One of his thumbs slides from her temple to her jawline while the other smooths over her furrowed brow, erasing the creases of worry he finds there. Meanwhile, Bella stews over this new information.

"Wait..." she says suddenly, pausing his movements, "you've been here for two weeks?"

He nods once.

"But I only just met you three days ago."

Edward nods again, dropping his hands down to his thighs. The couch cushion dipped in the middle causing the sides of their legs to be pressed against one another. He was giving her some space while also maintaining an essential amount of contact to keep her from suffering. He wanted to offer some sort of comfort, but just wasn't sure if she'd want him touching her when he told her this specific part. "Yes, true," he finally says, mumbling afterward, "but I've known you for two weeks."

"What was that?" Bella's eyes are as wide as saucers, thinking she must of misheard him.

A pause. "I had known you for a week and four days before I introduced myself in the library."

Her wide eyes narrow to a seething glare. "You better explain, Edward... ugh, I don't even know your last name!"

"My surname is Cullen - of the Anuka Cullen clan." He takes a breath then continues, "but do you remember what I said earlier? That it was my mission to study you to see if you were fit for the throne?"

"Yes," she mutters through gritted teeth.

"Well, that's what I was doing. My mission was to examine Charles' heir, none of us knowing then that you were my mate, and gather intelligence for the ancients. I couldn't make contact or extract you without the _quora_ 's approval. That day I gave you the book was the same day they gave me permission." Edward's voice is low and calm, the velvety flow of words dripping from his lips somewhat soothing in her frazzled mind. She faced a new surprise every time he opened his mouth and now she was struggling to keep up, tired from the stress of the last three days. She shakes her head to keep herself on track.

"So you just followed me around for a week?" she questions.

Edward scratches his chin, adding unnecessarily in response, "and a half."

Bella huffs and pushes his shoulder with hers, ignoring the wisp of a smirk that appears on his face. "But what exactly were you watching me do? My life is just work and class."

"It wasn't _what_ you were doing that I was concerned with, but _how_ you were doing them." He sees her cheeks heat in frustration and rushes to explain, "through your daily routines I gathered how kind and responsible of a being you are. Even serving humans food, you do it with such warmth and grace - like you're there for _them_ and not for the paycheck." His fingers curl around hers. "You're attending environmental science classes, and with that I inferred that you had an interest in helping your world from perishing. Empathy is a hard thing to come by for some humans, more so for Anuka, but you _mysha_... you're different. It _glows_ from within you." The raw honesty pouring from him and the way his eyes pierce into hers has her legging covered knees shaking.

How weak she was around him.

"And.. that was able to convince the _quora_?" Bella clarifies, not letting her face show how much his words affected her. Not a single person in her life had described her with such sincerity. No one had looked hard at her long enough to see the things he had. And although he was assigned to watch over her like some creeper, it comforted her to know his intentions during his 'studying sessions' were not malicious in any sense.

"Among other things," he says simply. "From the day I landed, I knew you had a good heart. Those additional eleven days were spent trying to convince the ancients."

Bella absorbs that bit of information, curiously asking, "you saw me the day you landed? Where?"

She watches warily as Edward shifts his eyes from hers to the fibers of the couch. He lifts his free hand to his head, vigorously running lengthy fingers through auburn strands and heaving a sigh, perhaps steeling himself, before glancing back at her. "You wouldn't happen to have a giant hole in your backyard, would you?"

"Yeah..." she questioningly trails off, jaw dropping open when his eyes look at her pointedly. She gasps, nearly screaming out, "that was _you_?!" His affirming nod making her stare in disbelief at him for several moments. He looked flawless as usual, not an eyelash out of place. Bella could hardly comprehend how he survived going through a shed and a further five feet into the ground. He had to have been moving insanely fast. "I don't - uh.. I mean, what..." she stumbles over her words, her tongue currently feeling a little too big for a mouth. "Did you cause that hole with your _body_?" She says the word 'body' like a curse word, her wide chocolate brown eyes staring at him in shocked awe.

His nod makes her squeak in terror as she holds onto his hand for dear life. "How freaking far did you fall?!"

"By American measurements," Edward offers nonchalantly, "about ten miles... nearly fifty-three thousand feet."

There's a split moment of silence before Bella yells, " _What_! How are you even alive? Why didn't you just land a ship or teleport or something?"

He smirks. "We're still working on minimizing our teleporter, it's far too large to bring on a pod. As for landing the ship, that was our initial strategy until we detected an airline jet heading into the vicinity, causing us to fall back with an alternative plan."

Bella's fingers curl tightly around his. "You call hurtling towards the ground from thousands of feet in the air an _alternative plan_?"

Her incredulous tone makes Edward chuckle. "It was either that or let hundreds of people witness a UFO landing onto their planet." He admires the burst of concern vibrating through her, and smiles gently at her. "There's no need to worry, Bella. I knew it was a possibility from the beginning, and to be honest with you, the impact hardly hurt."

"Seriously? You went through an entire shed!"

Edward bobs his head up and down, grinning as he states, "Anuka have extremely tough exteriors." He then taps his chin in thought, eyebrows creasing, a fascinated gleam in his eyes as he looks at her closely. "Speaking of, I'm curious if that gene carries to you. Do your cuts and wounds seem to heal quicker than most?"

Bella's sock clad feet tap repeatedly on the floor as she shrugs. "I guess, I never really noticed it before." She has a momentary flashback of being an elementary kid, running wild through the playgrounds at her school and constantly tripping over the asphalt, resulting in stinging scraped knees nearly every day. By the time she arrived home though, her legs would be squeaky clean of any marks. Sifting through her memories from then until now, she realizes that yes, every time she accidentally wounded herself cutting vegetables or picking up glass at work, the cut would be completely healed by the next day. She always thought it to be caused by a healthy immune system or something. "But, yeah I suppose they do."

That revelation of hindsight is enlightening - realizing now she could have delved deeper into the clues found throughout her life to solve the answer of her true ancestry. She had always thought to be different from her peers, but she could have never imagined just how much.

Her copper-haired alien strokes her palm, lips curling at one end as he continues gazing at her. "There's much to learn about you."

"Likewise," Bella mutters.

Her mouth opens to ask another question when her butt suddenly vibrates, her cell phone chiming from the back pocket of her leggings. She reaches back quickly to grab it and looks at the screen, noticing it's Rosalie calling. She answers it without a second thought and brings the phone up to her ear, holding a finger to Edward as she words a silent apology. He nods and plays with her fingers.

"Hello? Rose?" Her voice is thick with concern when she answers the call. There is no response, only the sound of deep breaths coming from the other end. "Rose?" she repeats, much quieter this time. Her heart pounds in suspense. Something is wrong; she can feel it.

Bella's wide eyes meet Edward's as the breathing emitting from the phone grows louder and louder. His hand grips hers, worriedly watching her reactions and hearing for himself the ominous sounds when she puts the phone on speaker. She sets it on her leg and puts a finger to her lips, signaling him to remain quiet and to listen.

A throat clears. Then a masculine, sinister voice fills the silence of the living room, malevolent words ringing through both their ears and setting her heart off at a record-breaking pace.

" _I have your friend_."

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm _soooooo_ evil. What a rude cliffie, right? Hope you all enjoyed this chapter ;) Some of you were curious why Phil didn't age the same way Edward would if he stayed. The reason for this is because Phil is a Dreg and had lived in a world where the atmosphere is similar to Earth, therefore he ages the same way humans do. Anuka are the only race within the Annunaki who can live over a thousand years, due to their genes and the atmospheric conditions found on _Creo_. Hope that cleared things up a bit and as always, thanks for reading! -sondor

 **Annunaki Lang. Help** :  
 _Creo_ (kree-oh): Anuka home planet  
 _quora_ (core-ah): congress _  
_ _mysha_ (mee-shaw): angel


	17. Chapter 17

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* * *

Last on Selcouth Cosmos:

 _"Hello? Rose?" Bella's voice is thick with concern when she answers the call. There is no response, only the sound of deep breaths coming from the other end. "Rose?" she repeats, much quieter this time. Her heart pounds in suspense. Something is wrong; she can feel it._

 _Her wide eyes meet Edward's as the breathing emitting from the phone grows louder and louder. His hand grips hers, worriedly watching her reactions and hearing for himself the ominous sounds when she puts the phone on speaker. She sets it on her leg and puts a finger to her lips, signaling him to remain quiet and to listen._

 _A throat clears. Then a masculine, sinister voice fills the silence of the living room, malevolent words ringing through both their ears and setting her heart off at a record-breaking pace._

 _"_ I have your friend. _"_

* * *

 **Chapter Sixteen**

The most evil and gruesome words resonate through Bella's head on a loop. Before she's even had a second to think of reacting, Edward snatches the phone from her leg with his right hand, placing it on mute and setting it on the couch, his left hand steadily creeping up her spine and through her hair to rub circles on the back of her tense neck.

"Wha-," she begins, but he shushes her, squeezing her neck lightly in apology.

Edward's now free right hand quickly taps his ear and then reaches into his jean pocket and pulls out a small cylinder tube with what looked to be a glass panel along the length of one side. His thumb taps the top once and slides to the bottom, and as he's doing so murmurs, "Jas, I need you to track these radio waves _right now_ ," and scans the phone with the light that begins to emit from his device.

All of this is happening in mere seconds, yet she's nearly going insane with the need for answers. Someone has Rose? Why? Who would just take… mid-thought yellow eyes flash in her memory and she gulps back bile. Rose texted her last night saying that her date had been asking weird questions, and in a moment of clarity, Bella wonders if this Riley and yellow-eyed man were one in the same.

And like he knew she was thinking about him, a menacing voice comes from her phone. " _Time is running out, princess_." Then a click - afterward the steady ringing of a dial tone. Her chest caves and she yells an angry curse. How fucking dare he take Rose! Her heart thunders in her chest as she sits with the anguished thought of how yellow-eyes wanted _her_ not Rose.

Meanwhile, Edward is muttering nonsense to absolutely no one, looking at the device in his hands as words begin to show on the screen. Bella hears him say, "bring Emmett down. I can't risk trying to protect both of them at once," and nearly explodes from the overwhelming frustration consuming her. Tears have gathered in her eyes by the time Edward puts his device away. He taps his ear again and glances over at her, eyes sad and smile soft. She doesn't fight him when he reaches out to her and gathers her shaking form into his arms. She curls up on his chest as he leans back into the couch, tilting her chin up to look at him when he cups her face.

"It's going to be okay _mysha_ , we will find her."

"We?"

"Yes. Emmett will be making his arrival shortly. He's going to assist us."

Bella frowns and reaches up to her ear, wondering if he had a speaker and microphone in his own ear and if that's who he had been talking to all along. She sighs, thankful for the help but still not understanding why Rose was taken in the first place. It was painful knowing that her best friend was in danger because of her fucked up ancestry, and she doubts she'd be able to survive the guilt if anything happened to her.

"What about the other guy you were talking to - Jas?" she asks, gesturing towards his ear.

Edward nods and trails a finger across her cheekbone as he explains, "Jasper is the pilot and must stay with the pod, however he's well adverse with technology and is extremely helpful in that respect. Emmett, on the other hand, is considered emergency reinforcement." He chuckles like it's an inside joke, before leaning from the back of the couch and smiling down at her. She finds strength and hope through his smile, and manages to tilt her lips up to mimic him. "He should be landing soon... would you like to watch?"

Bella silently agrees, gripping onto his bicep as he stands with her in his arms. She's about to protest that she can walk when he says, "the safest place to watch will be the roof. Is it alright if I carry you up there?"

"The roof?" is all she's able to say before Edward is dashing with her up the stairs to the attic she never uses. He's a lot faster than she thought and reminds herself to ask about it once Rose is safe. He walks swiftly around boxes, throwing a cursory glance at a blanket hidden next to the window, and wondering out loud if she'd like to use it while outside. She nods slowly, still a little dazed from the run up here, and observes him as he sets her down and grabs the blanket. She notices how he keeps one hand on her at all times, but she's not sure if he does it to spare her pain or if he just enjoys touching her.

What she does know is that he's taken complete control over this rescue mission, and now as she watches him pat out the dust from near-ancient fibers, she realizes that she wouldn't trust anyone else to find Rose than him.

Once he deems the blanket clean enough, he holds it out in front of him for her. She walks into it and he curls it around her, making sure she's snug, and then unlatches the window next to them. "You ready?" he asks though she doesn't think he's expecting an answer when he hoists her into his arms once more. He lifts a leg out of the window and braces his back against the frame, laughing lightly as she gasps when he jumps to the side roof below them. She's thankful she was wrapped up like a burrito or else her surprised limbs would have smacked him repeatedly in the face. He throws her a wink and walks up the side of the roof, diligently arriving to the top and setting her down to sit facing the backyard.

She looks up towards the sky. "So your pod is just gonna, like, beam him down here?" All she has as a reference is a limited knowledge of Star Trek.

"Not quite," Edward says with a smirk as he sits next to her, a long arm bending around her shoulders. "Em is known for his dramatic entrances."

Bella's brows furrow as she wonders what that could mean when a teeny tiny dot in the air grabs her attention. "Is that the pod?" she whispers, glancing at Edward quickly and then confusedly back to the sky when he shakes his head. "Then what is it?"

He simply grins in response, dimples and all.

The fleck in the sky becomes marginally bigger each second that passes, and Bella tracks it with her eyes as it moves closer and closer to where they're sitting. It begins taking shape and Bella is stunned to see the outline of a man slicing through the air like Superman - literally like Superman - he had his fist out in front of his face and the other stuck to his side in the familiar hero pose.

She's shocked still as his features become more definable the faster he plunges towards the ground. Her eyes widen in fear. It seemed like he was headed in their direction, like he may land right on top of them, and she wiggles in her blanket anxiously to try and run. However, the next few seconds seem to go by at an increasingly slow pace, and she stops her struggle to turn her head and look at Edward. As her head moves she's stunned that she's actually _really_ moving in slow motion. Her frightened eyes gaze into his calm ones, everything around them stuck in a time jar filled with sand, and the way he smiles at her reassuringly makes her suspicion that he's causing this seem plausible.

She shifts her gaze back to the falling man, taking in the moment as he gradually moves from the sky towards her backyard. His face is upside down and parallel from hers about a hundred yards from where she sits. His hero pose changes lazily to finger guns, and as soon as he points them at her and pulls the triggers, time alters to the present. Though everything had been moving slowly for them at the time, his momentum was still building and she watches as he violently hits the ground next to Edward's original hole. Grass and chunks of dirt are spit across the yard, a plume of dust covering the impacted point.

Edward hums in approval. "It's cool when you're not the one falling."

Bella is too distracted by the fact that he had just _moved_ _time_ to properly respond. She's staring down at the second hole in her backyard with her jaw hung open, seeing for herself first hand how her alien had landed two weeks ago. She glances back at him and is slightly startled to see he's already looking at her. He still has a tight arm around her shoulder, his face nears hers, sweet breath wafting across her cheek. Their eyes are locked in a battle of dominance, neither wanting to lose to the other.

She tenses as adrenaline pumps through her veins, the uneasy feeling of _want_ overcoming her during a time where it was totally not needed - and she repeatedly tells herself that, but can't seem to fight against the magnetic pull he has on her. She doesn't know if she wants to anymore. Her eyes flutter to his lips, telling herself they will find Rose and that it's okay if she thinks about kissing the man who's offering his help in searching. She's only known him so long, and that undeniable fact still bothered her, but the evident connection they share is getting harder and harder to resist when they're near each other like they are currently.

 _There are so many things to be worried about right now, Bella. Your best friend has been taken, and a man just fell thousands of feet into your backyard_ , she thinks to herself as she looks away from Edward's lips and into his piercing gaze. She concludes that as a rookie mistake. Hooded eyelids over emerald jewels capture her completely, and her heart thumps around in her chest like a wild stallion. He leans infinitesimally closer, both of them locked in a trance, when a loud _WOOP!_ echoes from two-stories below them.

"That was _amazeballs_!" A deep voice booms.

Edward sighs despite the smile tugging at his lips. He's still looking at her like he wants to devour her heart and soul, but instead settles for a sweet peck on her cheekbone before he gathers her into his strong arms. Her cheek tingles where he placed his lips and despite all the worries filling the boundaries of her mind, she smiles shyly.

"Are you ready to meet Emmett?" he questions eagerly, hugging her close to his chest - and like the gentleman he apparently was, jumps off the side of the roof before an answer could pass through her open lips.

* * *

 **A/N:** And that there ends part 1 of Emmett's introduction - so far so _Em_ , am I right? Things are getting steamy between E and B, and we all know things can only progress from here *wink wink* as always, thank you for reading and for the sweet and thoughtful reviews. I hold you regular reviewers very dear to my heart! y'all are the bee's knees! -sondor


	18. Chapter 18

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Last on Selcouth Cosmos:

 _"Are you ready to meet Emmett?" Edward questions eagerly, hugging Bella close to his chest - and like the gentleman he apparently was, jumps off the side of the roof before an answer could pass through her open lips._

* * *

 **Chapter Seventeen  
**

A shocked squeal escapes Bella at the suspended feeling of weightlessness she experiences after Edward throws them off the roof of her house. Her eyes immediately close at the sensation, strained fingers curling up into fists inside of the blanket she's safely wrapped like a burrito in. The wind whips through her hair and screams into her ears until the abrupt jolt of them meeting the ground silences it. She groans upon impact, wishing now that her arms were free so she could smack the hell out of him for surprising her like that.

"Obviously your planet has never heard of 'ready, set, go'," she grumbles as he carefully places her unsteady socked feet onto plush grass. His answering laugh throws her, and she looks back at him with a wry smile. "I'm serious Edward, I'll pee on you next time - no regrats." Though she really wouldn't. She'd let him jump off a hundred story roof with her if it meant for the chance he'd find Rose unharmed.

He opens his mouth to respond, an amused grin spreading across his beautiful face, when a roaring belly laugh from their left interrupts him. Bella swivels her head towards the deep voice, eyes widening once she sees who it belongs to, and unthinkingly takes a step back into Edward's chest as she registers this new alien's intimidating size.

He had looked much smaller falling through the air.

As he walks in their direction she gathers that he must be at least eight feet tall, and no eyes could miss the massive muscles covering nearly every inch of him - his length and width making him appear as an impenetrable wall, a force not a single thing in the universe could reckon with. His size was definitely alarming but once she zoned in on his boyish features and the expressive dimples drilled into his cheeks, a majority of her wariness dissipates. She shouldn't be as tense as she was considering he only came down to Earth to help rescue her friend - and with that thought in mind, she completely relaxes against Edward's chest and surrenders to the lean arm that snakes around her blanketed waist. If it _had_ been the stupid yellow-eyed fuck that took Rose, then he had no chance against Edward and this beast of an alien. Even looking at him kinda hurt.

Emmett is shaking with suppressed chuckles when he gets close enough to speak without yelling across the yard. His voice still manages to boom when he snickers loudly, "not even crowned yet and she's already threatening to pee on the peasants!"

Edward groans and quietly whispers an apology into her ear. Bella's brows crease in silent question but is ignored as he steps around the side of her, arm still curled around her hip, and begins politely making introductions once Emmett has stepped fully in front of them.

She wiggles her arm out of the blanket and sticks her hand out towards him as soon as Edward offers her name, and hides her cringe when the largest hand she's ever seen grips hers in a firm shake. She ignores his ginormous fingers and concentrates on his friendly smile and curled dark brown hair instead, trying her hardest to see him as a complex, living extraterrestrial being rather than the killing machine he's apparently used for.

Despite her initial reaction to him and his threatening appearance, she's extremely thankful he's here to assist them, and so far he's had a very upbeat and positive attitude, something she wasn't expecting, yet was also very grateful for. It strangely helped her cope through this... knowing that a giant bad-ass alien wasn't afraid of the challenge ahead - and she hoped facing off with Yellow wasn't a challenge for him at all and just an everyday walk in the park.

She gives him a cautious smile, saying, "nice to finally meet you Superman."

His answering grin is blinding, and one moment Bella was tucked into Edward's side, and the next she's being balled up in Emmett's arms and rocked like a newborn, her body tingling with pain from the loss of contact with her mate. Her right arm was smooshed against Emmett's chest and the way the rest of her body was burritoed in the blanket made it impossible to escape, her only option to stare up at him in alarm as he sputters and laughs like a maniac. "You didn't tell me she was so _small_!" he exclaims and then proceeds to make disturbing blubbery infant sounds at her, all of his words sounding like slurred gibberish.

She lifts an eyebrow and retorts, "um maybe you're just really fucking big," with a surprisingly steady voice and flinches when his explosive laughter pounds through her ears once more. If Rose wasn't in mortal danger, Bella probably would have giggled along with his antics, too.

Edward clears his throat and Bella looks over at him as her body burns from the inside out. She's startled to see him frowning, lips in a tight line with his hands tensed beside him in balled fists. Her own features form into slight grimace at his words. "Don't you think that's a little distasteful for the situation at hand, Em?" he murmurs seriously, adding, "her friend was just taken."

Bella watches the mirth in Emmett's eyes slowly dim as he lowers her feet to the grass. His guilty disposition makes him seem smaller than he was, and witnessing the change in his demeanor was like watching a puppy being kicked in the ribs and dumped on the side of a road. "Man, I'm real sorry," he mumbles sheepishly, gray eyes turning solemn as he looks at her. "You're the first human I've ever met and I guess I got carried away with my excitement."

Her now free hand reaches behind her, blindly seeking Edward's touch and solace from the always intense fire sweltering through her veins, and she sighs with immediate relief when his fingers grasp onto hers. It's clearly not enough contact for him though as he then tugs her hand closer and closer to him until her back rests against his chest, her body somehow perfectly molding with his despite the lumpiness of the blanket. Her heart aches with how _right_ it feels, but her mind counters that she doesn't have time to dwell over feelings.

She returns her attention to the giant of a being towering over the both of them, responding to his sincere apology and consoling him by saying, "it's okay, I get it. Just... maybe warn a girl next time?" She shoots Edward a pointed look over her shoulder, her words referring not only to Emmett but also to when her alien mate jumped off the roof moments ago, and she rolls her eyes when he sticks out his tongue.

Emmett nods with a dimpled smile and a wink, the light in his gaze which faded earlier already making a reappearance. "Word," he replies before clapping his hands together and rubbing them together mischievously. "Now, let's get down to business."

* * *

 **A/N:** aaaand that concludes Em's introduction! Sort of a short chapter (considering the last couple chaps have been 2,000+ words) but hoping my quick updates make up for it! What did we think of E's reaction to Em holding B? I think we can all agree green is a _great_ color on him, amiright or amiright ;) Your amazing reviews rock my socks, totally love hearing your reactions and theories. any questions, please feel free to PM me. and as always, thank you for reading! - sondor


	19. Chapter 19

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" _Word. Now, let's get down to business."_

* * *

 **Chapter Eighteen:**

The three of them trailing after one another into the house would have been a peculiar sight for unknowing eyes - an eight-foot giant followed by a petite brunette tucked into the arm of another unnaturally tall being with a messy top of auburn hair. For once, Bella was thankful for the secluded privacy the massive trees surrounding her property provided. The two tremendous holes littered behind her house would have been difficult to explain otherwise, and she thinks that if she had to, she'd say she was in the process of building an oddly shaped pool.

Emmett is the first to enter the house and he immediately makes himself at home and sits on the only couch in the living room. Red lifts his head at the sound of his loud footsteps and curls his tail between his legs at the sight of the enormous man. He doesn't even bother to growl, his fight-or-flight instincts kicking in, and chooses to lay his head back down and ignore this new stranger carrying an abnormal scent. Edward was around, so he trusted him to protect his girl.

Normally Bella's couch could fit up to three people, but Emmett's sizable body takes up nearly half of the space and there was no possible way Edward and her could sit comfortably next to him. She glances to the right of the couch at her was-dad's plush armchair, and concludes that they either share the spot or one of them sits on the floor.

Bella needed to remain alert when they begin planning to rescue Rose, therefore she had to be in constant contact with Edward to stay that way; but she just wasn't forward enough to suggest they sit together in the chair because it would most likely mean she'd have to sit on his lap. And though he was extremely easy on the eyes and every inch of her felt their connection, her feelings about him were still very much conflicted. She either touches him or suffers - no silver lining, no loopholes. The universe was essentially trying to force her onto him, and she wasn't sure if the butterflies that sporadically flap in her stomach every single time she looked at him was the universe's will or her own.

Edward had been steadily walking towards the only seat available while Bella was distracted with her thoughts. She's still tucked underneath his shoulder and as he makes to sit down, she makes a split-second decision and grabs his hand, lowering her legs to the floor in front of the chair in one fluid motion. She ignores him when he fully sits and tugs her hand questioningly, and instead looks over at Emmett in surprise when it seems he's retrieving devices out of thin air, like how a magician pulls a full-grown rabbit out of a hat. Her breath catches and she watches as he reaches one hand to his side and lowers it until his fingers completely disappear. They quickly reappear with a new gadget.

A strangled " _what the..._ " tumbles out of Bella's mouth.

Emmett looks up and snickers at her wide eyes. "I had the same reaction as a child."

"What is it?" she whispers.

"A _daplin_ ," Edward mutters from behind her, tugging her hand again. Her eyes shift to his like a magnet, and she thinks she sees a flash of a feeling she can't exactly pinpoint before it's gone and he's explaining, "it's basically an invisible sac. It absorbs the reflection of its surroundings and projects them."

"Creating the illusion of invisibility," she suggests, smiling slightly to herself when he nods. Bella glances back at the strange looking devices Emmett had pulled out from the _daplin_. "And those?"

Emmett had strategically positioned them all on her coffee table and he plucks the furthest one on the left with his large fingers. "These are to aid us in finding your friend. This one specifically," he says, wiggling the metallic rectangular box in his grasp, "is constantly tracking the phone of the person who called you, courtesy of Jas." Emmett places it back on the table and picks up the large oval-shaped box placed in the middle of the table. He opens it, sliding it to face Bella, and explains, "if we unfortunately find her harmed, this box is filled with medicament for any conceivable ailment." She nods, hopeful they won't have to use it, and he closes the lid before grabbing a bulky looking machine that looks suspiciously like a gun but on steroids. "And since not all of us have gifts," he shoots Edward a look and then throws a wink at Bella, "I will be using this in the unlikely event my fists don't finish the job."

He holds it out in front of him and Bella is instantly mesmerized by the intricately designed details of the glowing gold embedded against the burnished metal of the gun. Half of her is curious what is does, while the dominant part of her realizes that no matter what it's capable of, the only reason it will be used is to kill the _thing_ that took Rose, and in the end that's all that matters to her - Rose's safety.

"And that?" she wonders, nodding towards the last thing he had taken out of the _daplin_. It's shaped like a small donut, but thinner and with grooves ingrained along the curved length. Emmett picks it up and twirls it around a finger, the light from the window glinting off the glossy surface.

"This is yours," he answers, adding, "Edward was insistent I bring it."

She glances back at her mate in confusion, his solid green eyes meeting hers. "And what exactly does _it_ do?"

"Why don't you try _it_ on and find out for yourself?" Emmett voices back, and she whips her head back around to see him reaching his hand with the device out towards her. Bella swallows past the lump in her throat and gently collects the strange mechanism in both hands. She looks down at it, clueless how to wear such a thing. Does she squeeze her hand through the open part? How would this little thing help Rose?

Bella's eyes seek Edward's and he chuckles lightly at her helpless expression before tugging her hand and urging her closer to him. She clicks off the part of her mind that immediately protests and bends her knees to rise from her position on the floor.

He sits up straighter and coils one arm around her waist to lift her onto his lap, settling her on top of his legs sideways. Bella isn't certain why and is briefly pondering the reason when a finger snake down her lower calf and towards her foot. She yelps in surprise and he smirks, indolently plucking the device from her hands and pressing a hidden button on the inside. This apparently activates a latch and the circle shaped ring opens, easily breaking apart in the middle and jutting out at an angle. Her eyes flicker to Edward's but he's already watching her, and she stares back for as long as she can without melting like the marshmallow she was over the blazing campfire that was his gaze.

Bella is nearly at her breaking point when the sudden feeling of his hand caressing the pad of her foot shocks her out of her trance-like state. She nervously adjusts herself in his lap and tracks his fingers as they move over her sock to wrap around her ankle. Edward uses one digit to drag the hem of her leggings slightly up her calf, and her heart pounds with every second that passes as he does so. Then she realizes that the seconds were really dragging on, like _really_ dragging on, and she glances over at Emmett to see him frozen in time, staring motionless down at the little black box he had shown her earlier.

Bella wiggles her fingers and observes that despite the stillness of everything around her, she was moving normally, and her body tenses when her eyes flit back to Edward's. He's regarding her with a look she can't place and abysmal warmth sweeps throughout her veins as she feels his fingers peel away her sock halfway off her foot. She throws a cursory peek at the device in his other hand, noticing how it's moving closer and closer to her skin. The part of her brain she cast away earlier rears its ugly head in warning.

"Do you trust me?" Edward murmurs, his voice humming through her ears and straight into her warming belly. Her eyes flutter to his lips as he forms the words and she finds herself nodding along with the beat of heart, because yes, she trusted him with her life. She was uncertain of her other feelings towards him, but he was putting his own life on the line to save her best friend and that meant worlds to her.

"Yes," Bella whispers during the last nod of her head, raising her eyes back to his gentle gaze.

She feels cool metal touch her skin and then a cold grip once it latches around her ankle. She looks down at the strange metallic band and watches as one of Edward's long fingers presses a dial on the side. A neon purple light begins to glow from the engraved slots on the sides and it tightens further around her ankle before thinning out to encase the lower half of her calf. She gawks in awe as the wrap glimmers a brilliant magenta before disappearing before her very eyes.

"This," he says softly, "was invented with the same technology as the _daplin_. It's designed to stay hidden from view to avoid detection, while also emitting a powerful shield that protects and shields your entire body. Not a single thing can physically harm you while you wear it," his tongue swipes along his bottom lip before he adds as an afterthought, "nothing except our connection. "

She shifts her head to stare at him in disbelief. "You... just gave me a portable force field?" Her voice rises embarrassingly high at the end of her question and he smiles broadly at her visible cringe.

His eyes are warm as they observe her flushed face. She rigidly clutches at the top of her legs as a finger raises and gently pushes a strand of loose hair behind her ear, tracing the shell with his thumb and then slowly dropping it to curl underneath her jaw. "I can't have anything happening to you, now can I?"

There's a cracking sensation snapping deep within Bella's chest, the honesty echoing in his voice and mirroring through his gaze overwhelming her sensitive mind and setting her nerves alight. His finger falls from her skin, and though the agitated part of Bella's brain urges her to consider that what she's feeling isn't even _real_ , the availing and present part of her yearns for his touch again.

And like a bubble popping, she hears an exaggerated sniff from the right and takes notice of time resuming its normal motion. She didn't realize how tight she'd been gripping her legs and flinches once she registers how deep her nails were digging into her thighs. She relaxes her hands, blinking up into her alien mate's eyes as they change from soft to resolute.

"I think we're all set to find your friend." Edward's voice cuts like a knife into the still room, and he gives Bella one last, long look before wrapping an arm around her waist and shifting her around to sit on his knee. "Let's get moving."

* * *

 **A/N:** E and Em seem to have a plan set to get back Rose, and they're taking B along for the ride. Never thought I'd be able to create and post a story with 30,000+ words but here we are, and here you are reading it ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) I'm incredibly grateful for those following with each chapter and offering their insight, you all are invaluable to me srsly. Have a fabulous week, and as always, thank you for reading! -sondor

 **Annunaki Lang. Help** :  
 _daplin_ (dahp-leen): word for invisible sac/bag


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N:** A wee note on the name change of this story as this is the chapter I decided to rename it. I found the original title, Only the Beginning _,_ boring and menial. It had no _oomf_ and no correlation with the story whatsoever; other than it having what every other story out there has, _a_ _beginning_ lol - so I decided to spice it up with the title you see now, and so far I have no regrets. Though it may appear a bit odd at first glance, it packs a punch with the meaning behind it. I hope the change isn't an inconvenience for anyone reading, and for those about to google the meaning of the word, I'll save you some time;

Selcouth (ˈ _sel-ˌküth_ ), adj. (ori. old english): Rare, unusual, wondrous; selcouth connotes an air of mystery and unfamiliar exquisiteness, which has been unexpectedly discovered. Strange, yet beautiful, selcouth should be reserved to describe only the most extraordinary.

fitting, right? another difference that can be found throughout the story is that the word _misha_ is now _mysha_. Just a small letter change, but it makes it seem more alien-like. aaaand now that we're all on the same page, here's an update in time for the new year!

Please enjoy!

* * *

Last on Selcouth Cosmos:

 _"I think we're all set to find your friend." Edward's voice cuts like a knife into the still room, and he gives Bella one last, long look before wrapping an arm around her waist and shifting her around to sit on his knee. "Let's get moving."  
_

* * *

 **Chapter Nineteen:**

Time seems to edge on quicker than normal, the speed in which Emmett moves as he gathers the final supplies they need to devise a plan makes the seconds pass by like a blur. Edward explains that he's slowed down the outside world, giving them more time inside the house, and makes sure to fill Bella in on everything else that will happen as they move to sit next to each other on the couch.

She hangs off of each word that drips from his lips, listening intently as he explains how Emmett will lead the two of them to Rose's supposed tracked location in separate cars - he'll take Bella's truck, while her and Edward drive the shiny BMW SUV that Phil had left in the garage. She wonders aloud how he'd known about that car, since it's been sitting immobile and gathering dust for the last eight months, and his ears color a delicate pink when he admits he peeked in every room the first night he entered her house. Her brow creases. She hadn't even set foot in the garage since Phil died. Something about the pristine leather interior and flawless appearance of the exterior always made her cringe; preferring instead to use her rusty and worn, albeit loved, blue truck.

There would be no hesitation using his car now if it meant getting to her friend before she's harmed... or worse. A shiver vibrates through Bella's bones at the thought.

Edward goes on to further explain how their pilot, Jasper, successfully deployed a tiny satellite into Earth's atmosphere before he left orbit. With it, he was able to produce a fourth-dimension image of the area where the radio-waves were tracked. Edward plucks the small rectangular box from the coffee table and holds his finger down on one end. Bella is taken aback as light gathers in the middle of the device, and she nearly falls off the couch when a crystal clear hologram of a fenced off, run-down building evolves right in front of her eyes.

" _That's_ where she is?" Bella asks, her voice perturbed as she leans in closer to inspect the pixelated replica floating above Edward's hand.

It looked sort of like a junkyard but without any wrecked cars strewn about or piled on top of each other. The fence surrounding the lot had barbed wire attached to the top, which struck her strange as there seemed to be nothing of value inside to protect. What looked like pieces of cardboard covered nearly all the windows of the three-story building, and as she peered nearer to the miniature model, she could make out thick vines slithering through each and every crevice all the way to the roof. Everything about it implied abandoned, but the radio waves from the creep's phone said otherwise. It was very much occupied and possibly with her best friend.

"Does it look familiar?" Edward asks, looking down at her with a crease between his eyebrows.

She picks through her memory carefully and shakes her head in the negative. "Where is it?"

"Jas said almost forty minutes from Montesano, so I'd say about half an hour from here."

Her pseudo-father told her once that he'd bought this property a couple months after she born, miles from the nearest town, with the intention of allowing her to grow up with an appreciation for all the life found in the scaling tree-ridden forests around them. Bella was grateful for his decision now more than ever.

She watches the hologram hover, aware yet ignoring the tingle she gets at the feel of Edward's thigh pressing against her own, and taps her restless fingers against her knees. Her narrowed eyes sweep over the fence for a way to get in and they widen when she spots a huge chain wrapped tightly around the only opening she could find. If the chain hadn't phased her hopes of getting in, then the massive lock hanging on top of it did.

A broken sigh leaves her lips.

"What's the plan once we're there?" she voices after a brief moment, her soft-spoken underlying tone thick with withheld emotion. Rosalie was probably so scared and it wracked her stomach with an awful wave of nausea. She never in a million years could have predicted a situation like the one they were caught up in now, and the reality of everything was beginning to overwhelm her.

Bella swallows against the restricting lump throbbing against the base of her throat and forces herself to take deep and steady breaths. Her weary eyes meet Edward's, and she regards the slight twitch in his brow as he lowers the device in his hand to the coffee table - forgotten hologram still floating aimlessly above it.

"Are you sure you want to go, Bella? I know Emmett can handle it alone."

She nods rapidly twice, doing so to answer his question and to rid the fogginess clouding her mind, murmuring, "I need to be there," before abruptly arching an eyebrow in his direction once the rest of his words sink in. "You'd send Emmett out by _himself_?" She says it like it's a completely mind-boggling idea, only realizing once the words are out that the man in question is eight feet tall and could probably destroy a small village with one huff. Bella frowns up at Edward. "And where would you be?"

Her confused grimace is met with a gentle smile and soft crystalline jade eyes. Cool fingers graze over the top of her hand and an automatic shiver shoots through her bones and down her spine. Sparks spit and burn on her skin from the contact. Her breath catches at the sudden intense reaction her body has to his touch, so different than the normal tingle. It's a surprisingly delicious sensation that she unthinkingly savors, but maybe now, if she's being honest with herself, not so unthinkingly.

There's hardly any room between them as it is, and the air further constricts in their tiny bubble when his face nears hers.

For a split second she had almost forgot the question she asked him. Her heart rises into her throat when he wets his bottom lip with the tip of his tongue and watches her carefully underneath thick lashes, seeming to gauge her reaction to his proximity. Bella gives him her best poker face, squeezing her leg in distraction and hoping with everything in her that he doesn't see just how much he affects her.

But then his low and sweet, practically velvet, voice reaches her waiting ears. "Anywhere you are."

She opens her mouth to respond but not a word comes out.

When all he's met with is silence, he smiles the tiny smile she's beginning to know well but not understand, leaning away from her to search for Emmett and finding his massive form rummaging through the kitchen and throwing things into the a duffel. Edward turns to her again, sighing deeply and delivers his next words like a well rehearsed speech, his tone resolute yet soft. "It's better if I'm with you to keep you safe. Though the _in'va_ is well hidden, it's still detectable and can be ripped off. And I'm sorry, but I won't take any risks."

 _In'va_? The thing around her leg?

She doesn't have enough time to evaluate all that's just happened before Edward's talking again with his stupidly perfect voice. "Since you'll be there," he says, nodding over at the hologram, "I will be there, too. Emmett is taking your truck so he can dispose of the uh, _evidence_ afterwards. You and I will take Rose to wherever she wants to go in the SUV - hopefully with us all of alive, well, and unharmed."

There's not much for Bella to do other than hope the very same thing with every drop of her soul.

But it would be unlike her if she didn't worry. "And the lock on the gate?"

Edward smirks at her, but not in a cocky way she's been familiarizing herself with. It almost looks... playful?

She feels a tickle on her nose and instantly shoots her fingers up to itch the area. She lowers her hand and continues looking at him expectantly, letting out an irritated grunt when another tickle causes her to sneeze.

"Wha-" is all she's able to get out before the sight of strand after strand of her hair floating in front of her face halts her mid-sentence. It was like an giant invisible balloon had been rubbed all over her head, and she scratches and tosses that thought when she gets a glimpse of herself in the reflection of her television. The tips of her long hair were standing straight up in the air, completely defying gravity, and there was no controlling the quick bubble of laughter that escapes her - she looked like a mad science experiment gone horribly wrong!

She turns her gaze back to Edward to see his impish smile still in place. "Okay, okay, I get it," she mumbles, using the tresses of hair that begin cascading down her back to hide her lips as they curl up. She doubts he's ever been locked out of his house with those convenient powers of his... or locked out of anything, really.

Again, a feeling of hope swells inside of Bella at the reminder of his gifts.

Emmett pops his head up from around the wall separating the kitchen from the living room and she lifts her head towards the sound of his loud voice. "So I packed your friend some protein and sugar snacks in case she goes into shock - and some water, too." He drops a bag, one she can actually see, onto the floor besides the counter and then walks around it to lean against the living room wall, the top of his head nearly touching the ceiling. "I believe we're prepared to leave unless you can think of anything else she may need."

Bella hums absently and chews on her lip. A moment later she points to the cupboard above the fridge. "Rose will want what's in there."

Emmett slides over and grabs the handle, opening the oak door and reaching his tree trunk of an arm inside. Normally Bella had to stand on the very tip of her toes, or hop on the step stool, to get to things in that cupboard. And she watches with mild envy as he easily extracts an unopened wine bottle and holds it out in front of his face.

She hears a soft chuckle from beside her. "That looks familiar."

Bella rolls her eyes teasingly in Edward's direction, murmuring, "stalker."

Emmett belts out a laugh when he reads the bottle's label, interrupting Edward before he's able to respond. "She needs alcohol?"

"It's apparently how they deal with things," Edward speaks up, and Bella turns to glare at him.

His wide eyes meet her narrowed ones. "They?"

"Uh- humans. How humans deal with things. Some humans. Not all of them."

Emmett snickers at his partner's nervous ramblings as he places the wine bottle into the duffel bag. He zips it close and with a quick tug, lifts it with ease over his shoulder. Through Bella's periphery, she sees Edward's hand move to grab the small black box left on the coffee table, watching how the entire room dims once he shuts the bright hologram off.

There's a moment of collective silence, and Bella's sure the two supernatural beings in the room, maybe even Red, could hear her heart hammering away in her chest. There was no telling what they'd find when they finally arrived to that junkyard, every possible outcome splaying through her head like a vintage camera reel.

Her eyes take in Emmett's ginormous form propped against the wall. She assesses the damage he could potentially do to another person, and in not one scenario could she imagine anyone taking down someone that fucking huge, and for Rose's sake, she hoped no one was able to.

Bella's gaze shifts over to Edward, and she finds that her heart steadily slows in time with her breathing. The effect of the genuinely determined look he gives her raises her spirits and calms her mind. With each inhale comes a more positive thought. She could do this. _They_ could do this. She swears she can feel it within her entire being that they'll find her best friend.

Edward must sense her confidence growing in her eyes because he then reaches for her hand and overlaps his fingers with hers, forming them to a perfect fit.

A small smile takes shape on her face.

Yellow's time on Earth was up.

* * *

 **A/N:** Montesano is a small town in Washington state for anyone curious where B has been living this whole time. I've never been there personally, but from all the research I've gathered from google, it seemed like the perfect place to hide a half-alien princess ;) I start college classes after the new year, updates will still come, but maybe not as quick as they have been. Thank you for the awesome reviews for the last chapter, I'm so flattered you guys are finding this interesting! Happy new year, and as always, thank you for reading! -sondor

 **Annunaki Lang. Help :  
** _daplin_ (dahp-leen): invisible sac/bag _  
in'va_ (een-vah): portable&invisible force field shield


	21. Chapter 21

Please enjoy!

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Last on Selcouth Cosmos:

 _Yellow's time on Earth was up._

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty:**

Hardly a minute later Bella is strapped into the passenger seat of Phil's SUV, one hand clasped tight in Edward's as he uses the other to steer the car forward and out of the garage. She cranes her head to look behind her into the backseat, smiling slightly to herself when baby blues nervously stare back. She didn't feel right leaving Red at home and thought that his familiarity would comfort Rose after this was all over with so she insisted to the boys, _ahem_ male aliens, that she bring her giant red dog along.

Hell, she'll probably need comforting when this is all through, too.

The tightening of her fingers around Edward's is unintentional when she returns her gaze forward to the brake lights of her truck. The connection between them is electric and the thundering of her heart can't be softened. Though his touch is calming, she's never been enclosed in a confined space like this with him before and his attractive scent fills the car as she breathes it into her lungs. Did every alien smell this good? She slyly cracks the window open with her free hand for fresh air.

And among his intoxicating proximity is the furthering reality of what they're driving towards, what's awaiting them at that eerie junkyard she had been shown earlier. Edward suggested that Emmett could handle this rescue mission solo, so although her heart thrums loudly in her ears, she remains having steadfast hope that the three of them have the capability of returning her friend home unharmed.

Bella side-eyes Edward's profile. His brows are slightly furrowed as he concentrates on the gravel driveway leading away from her house. "Have you driven a car before?" she quietly questions, partially curious and partially wanting to distract herself.

She watches the side of his lip closest to her curl upwards into what looked to be an amused smirk. "Once."

"Oh dear," she whispers to herself, tensing in her seat. "And you know what you're doing?"

He turns his head towards her and she frantically points to the windshield when their gazes connect. The last thing they need was to crash into a tree. He seems to find her reaction entertaining as he chuckles and humors her by looking back out the window. "It's not much different from piloting a pod," he says and then proceeds to show off by taking his one hand off the wheel, steering effortlessly with his powers. Bella grips the door handle tightly in response.

After a few seconds he wraps his fingers back around the leather and turns left out of her gravel road, following behind Emmett driving her truck. They two cars set along the main road and Bella relaxes into the seat though her mind buzzes with anticipation. She hopes Rose is alright. Red whines in the backseat, like he's mirroring her emotions; something he's done since he was a puppy.

Bella sighs into the cab. "What's the plan once we're past the gate?"

"Emmett."

"Huh?" Her brain felt slow.

He casts her a quick look. "If anyone tries to stop us from getting to your friend, Emmett will dispose of them."

She shudders, trying not to imagine what _disposing_ of someone could look like.

"Do you think it was one of your kind to take her?"

There's no hesitation with his answer. "Not an Anuka, but possibly a Dreg. There's been bad blood between our races for generations due to wrongful rulings of past kings; similar to the American civil war." His nose scrunches at the reminder.

Bella nods in understanding, curious on the history of his kind but accepting they didn't have enough time right now for Annunaki 101. "But why would a Dreg want to take Rose?" This was the question that had been haunting her since the phone call, and she stares over at the slopes and curves of Edward's face as the glow of her truck's brake lights illuminate on them.

They make a right turn before he replies.

"I'm assuming they want to blackmail you using her. That's what humans call it, right?" He doesn't let any room for her to answer before he continues, responding to his own question, "yes, blackmail. Quite a silly word to describe it, but I believe that's what this Dreg is attempting."

"Blackmail..." she murmurs. "Yellow wants something from me?"

He nods tepidly, eyes shifting to hers then back to the windshield.

She shakes her head in frustration. "What do I have that he could possibly want?"

Edward's features harden, his face shockingly forming to that of a predator. Bella swears she sees him bare his teeth angrily before his appearance smooths back to the human facade she's been accustomed to since she met him. The change in him happened so fast, she's not sure if she imagined it or not. He legitimately looked about ready to kill something.

"I'm not sure," he says nonchalantly and Bella narrows her eyes at him. _What a bold-faced lie, Cullen_.

"Not even a single clue?" she presses, watching as his fingers tighten around the wheel. The hand holding hers doesn't move a muscle.

"Anuka blood runs through your veins." A divot in his cheek forms when he clenches his jaw. "He could want revenge on your father," he suggests tightly, adding a stiffly mumbled, "I don't know."

It looked like he was restraining himself from showing a certain emotion and Bella nervously fidgets in her seat, wondering what could be the cause for his unexplained reactions. She doesn't think he's telling her all that he knows, and it makes it that much harder to trust him completely. She's about to try her luck and push further for the truth when he take his hand off of the wheel and presses the tiny machine hiding in his ear, his telekinetic gift taking over the steering of the car.

"Once we arrive," he states, and she assumes he's not talking to her anymore, "take Bella's truck to the opposite side of the gate to distract whoever is inside." There's a pause as someone, probably Emmett, responds. "Exactly. Meet us at the front once I have it unlocked." He taps his ear again and resumes steering with his left hand, paying no mind to the bewildered girl sitting next to him.

That was the smoothest subject change she'd ever seen. Bella has an inkling he'd hoped she'd be too distracted by that call to continue her questioning, and for the time being, she would allow herself to go along with it. She wants to be mad but there's too much at stake for her to start an argument.

"Why not just stop time so we can grab Rose and dip before they even know what hits them?"

Edward apparently wasn't expecting that and he looks over at her incredulously, saying, "I can only pause time for so long," before returning his gaze to the window and growling out, "even then, they're fucking with you and they _must_ be destroyed."

Bella gasps as a hot tinge of fire burns through her belly and spreads down between her legs. She'd never heard him curse before, and it throws her off guard, the possessiveness in which it rolled off his lips causes her heart to sputter and skip. She wants to hear it growled again, and again, and again. Sparks shoot out from where their hands are connected and the intensity of it shocks and excites her - it takes all of her willpower to keep her fingers still.

"O-okay," she eventually stutters, appalled with herself and her wanton desires, and looks out the passenger side window at the passing trees. What is wrong with her? She felt so out of control around him and looking at his handsome face only made it worse. Choosing instead to observe their surroundings, she notices they haven't passed a single building in miles. Her eyebrows pull together. "How far away are we?"

Edward drums his fingers on the wheel. "Nearly there."

Bella watches ahead as Emmett veers her truck off onto a secluded dirt road, Edward steering right to follow after him. The trees seem to close in on her, and while Bella was not known to have bouts of claustrophobia, this nearly did her in. Her fingers squeeze Edward's on their own accord and he smooths his thumb over hers. It wasn't just the narrow pathway or abundance of thick trunks that had her heart racing, it was mostly the looming fact of what they may find once they clear the trees. Anything goes once they open that gate.

After what feels like hours of driving through dense forest, a small, yet familiar building begins taking shape.

"That's it," she breathes, seeing Edward nod from the corner of her eye.

Tinted red fills her vision as Emmett presses on the brakes in front of them. Edward follows suit and stops, raising his hand off the wheel to press his fingers against his ear. He cocks his head and listens for a moment before replying to whoever is talking through the device hidden behind his hair. "I thought that, as well. We can use it to our advantage." He looks over at Bella, taking in her wide gaze, and then says, "give me thirty seconds, then circle the fence." He pokes his ear once more, breathing out slowly.

His eyes appraise her, flitting from her lips, nose, and eyebrows, then nearly drowning in pools of melted chocolate. Bella is just as lost, splotches of pink surely covering her neck and cheeks as she blossoms underneath his stare. She has questions, of course. She'll always have questions. But in that moment there was no way she could form a single one.

It's like clockwork. Their fingers seem to vibrate with the energy of their connection as he leans in closer towards her. The hand that had laid back down to rest of the steering wheel reaches across the center console and cups her cheek gingerly, the bottom of his hand on her chin with his fingers brushing through wisps of hair near her forehead. The curves of her face rest perfectly within his palm and she fulfills the sudden need to lean into it, seeing a glint in his eyes when she does. She hardly knows him, but she _sees_ him.

"Please, _mysha_ ," Edward sighs, breaking the silence in the very quiet car. His thumb rubs a soft path along her cheek bone. "Please stay behind me at all times."

Bella nods, still stuck in a trance. Her heart could beat right out of her chest it was pounding so hard.

Edward wets his lips and speaks again, this time a little more forcefully, and drops his hand from her cheek. "We're assuming he doesn't know you have two Anuka males to back you up. Let us do the work and I promise it will be quick." She bobs her head up and down in a daze, mesmerized as the gold flecks in his emerald eyes become clearer and more noticeable as his face nears hers. Bella sucks in a quick breath, their noses practically touching. "I've got your back if you stay behind mine, alright?"

She squeaks her agreement, frozen when his scent envelops around her and coats her tongue. Just when she thinks he's going to brush his lips with hers, she hears a click on her right and feels a slight breeze as the passenger side door opens. Her eyes shift over to see his fingers leaving the handle and she blinks at him confused when he leans away to open his own door.

"Coming?" he chirps, unbuckling and easing himself out of the car.

Who could have known humans weren't the only species that didn't play fair.

* * *

 **A/N:** I know some of us are very excited for our big friendly giant to meet Rose, and I promise the next chapter won't disappoint! Also, I wouldn't ask how Em was able to fit in B's truck - let's just assume they took out the seat or something lol. They're aliens, they will make it work somehow. I posted a new story _End of Us_ , and will be posting updates to both as often as I can. Thanks for reading, and Happy New Year!

 **Annunaki Lang. Help:**  
 _mysha_ (mee-shaw): angel


	22. Chapter 22

Please enjoy!

* * *

Last on Selcouth Cosmos:

 _Just when Bella thinks Edward is going to brush his lips with hers, she hears a click on her right and feels a slight breeze as the passenger side door opens. Her eyes shift over to see his fingers leaving the handle and she_ _blinks at him confused when he leans away to open his own door._

 _"Coming?" he chirps, unbuckling and easing himself out of the car._

 _Who could have known humans weren't the only species that didn't play fair._

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-One:**

Bella takes a deep breath to settle her scattered thoughts. She found herself anxious and nervous one second, lost in lust the next, and the mixture of emotions was going to give her whiplash if she didn't calm down. It was daunting to know how quick Edward could rile her up like he's been doing all day and she promises to think on it once they find Rose and get to safety.

Her body alights like molten lava when Edward releases her hand, and she then hops down from her seat, stiff with agony. You'd think she'd be used to it by now, but every time it ignites within her, it's just as intense as the first time; overpowering and all-consuming like rolling waves of magma. And that was just what she felt on the inside. It was difficult to think past the millions of hypothetical needles digging into every inch of her skin, red hot and poking away with no remorse, yet she tries anyway.

Both of them shut their car doors at the same time, and she repeatedly attempts to shove aside the pain coursing through her veins, grinding her teeth and thinking of things to distract her when it doesn't seem to work. She can feel the weight of the _in'va_ device around her leg and tries to concentrate on that, thinking in the back of her mind of how nice it would be if it protected her against the mating connection, as well.

She minutely peeks inside at her loyal companion curled up asleep on the backseat, hoping that leaving the passenger window cracked would give him enough air flow while they're gone.

The SUV beeps and she hears the locks audibly click from within.

She looks over to the front of the hood at Edward who meets her eyes and then glances away, shoving the keys into his pocket. There's a crunch of gravel beneath tires as Emmett pulls her truck forward, slowly continuing down the pathway to the junkyard. Bella doesn't have any time to wonder if this plan will work before Edward motions her closer with a finger, ducking behind the bed of the truck and shuffling along with it as it moves. She catches up and bends her knees and waist slightly, linking her fingers through his when he offers them up like it's the most natural thing to do.

The pain instantly fades and she's able to breathe, the relief blissfully instantaneous.

They stay crouched behind the truck as it nears closer to the fenced perimeter. She feels a delicate waft of Edward's soft breath on her cheeks when he leans in close to speak. "Emmett is going to take a right turn once we're at the gate to circle around the fence," he murmurs. "When he turns, you and I will run to the lock." His green eyes bore into hers, the most serious she's seen him yet. "Stay behind me from this moment on."

Her fingers tighten around his and she nods. This was it. There was no turning back now. Her heart _patters patters patters_ inside of her rib-cage, every breath turning heavy and choppy with each passing thought.

 _Be strong_ , she tells herself, _for Rose._

They reach the fence and Emmett begins shifting toward the right to drive parallel against it. Bella licks her dry lips and waits for Edward to make the first move, swallowing her gasp when he suddenly rushes out from behind the truck bed and consequently tugs her along as their hands were locked together in a sealed vice.

She stumbles behind him and catches her breath when they've stopped in front of the locked gate.

Bella watches the chunk of metal rise quickly in the air towards Edward until it settles fully on his palm. The sound of Emmett revving the engine once he's around the corner causes her to shift her gaze and peer curiously through the slits in the fence. Her eyebrows raise when she sees him drifting her truck back and forth on the dirt, somehow fishtailing around the second corner and making an impressively uncoordinated loop, before speeding down the length of the perimeter.

She catches Edward rolling his eyes through her periphery though his attention is still on the lock.

"Is this Emmett's first time driving?" she whispers questioningly, watching as her rusty truck drifts again around another corner. She didn't even know it was capable of doing that.

Edward's answering grin is all Bella needs to know, and not a second later, a metallic _pop_ sounds in front of them. The unfastened lock rises into the air off of his palm and untangles itself from the chains encasing it. Edward tosses it overhead using his powers, and as Emmett slides into view around the last corner, the thick chains wrapping the wrought gate together slide to the ground like a dead snake.

"Back up," Edward murmurs, letting go of her hand to wrap his arm around her front as they take a couple steps backward. Emmett fills the gap between them and the gate with her truck, effectively shielding their bodies once he speeds to a stop.

The timing was all very well orchestrated. And she watches in awe as the hulking giant disentangles himself from the small confines of the cab and shuts the door closed once he's jumped out. The gun he had shown her earlier is strapped around his shoulders and it glints dangerously off the rays of sun streaming through the trees as he easily pushes the tall gate open and stalks inside.

Edward moves his arm to to grasp her hand again, and he cocks his head over the hood to observe Emmett checking his surroundings. There's no movement from what she can tell, and when Emmett touches his ear and Edward nods to himself, she predicts they're communicating her thoughts. "There's no sign of anyone outside," Edward says quietly as he lowers his head to look into her eyes. "Rose must be inside the building - we're not sure where, so the three of us are going to stick together and cover each floor. Remember to stay-"

"-behind you," Bella finishes softly, a warm feeling spreading through her when he gives her a tiny crooked smile. He squeezes her hand reassuringly and then proceeds to round the hood of the car with her in tow. Together they take quick steps past the gate and book it towards Emmett standing vigilantly on the side of the three-story building.

There wasn't much within the fenced area, just a couple patches of grass and random bushes, but the building itself was exactly how she remembers it looking from the hologram. Vines creep up the side of ancient looking bricks and around cardboard covered windows, giving off the same ominous vibe she felt earlier of it being abandoned years ago. Her heart seems to vibrate through her entire body when they finally reach Emmett, the two of them flattening their backs against the barren wall and Bella sandwiching herself between both of the large aliens. She tries to keep her breathing steady and focuses on the feel of Edward's fingers to ground herself.

"Ed," Emmett whispers as he leans his head between them, "slow it down each floor, yeah? Give us time to scope it out."

Edward nods and gestures his chin towards the left at the front door. Emmett moves off the wall and makes a beeline for it, his hand stretching behind him for his gun and swinging it around his front to position it between both arms. The bulky thing was as big as her torso, but somehow in his grasp he made it seem small. Edward squeezes her hand in what she's beginning to think of as a signal, and they break from the wall and trail behind Emmett walking up the front steps.

There's a muted click of the bolts on the front door unlocking, and then before she knows it, Bella is following them inside.

She knows that Edward has slowed down time because the faint rustling of leaves behind her becomes silent as she crosses the threshold. The quiet is near deafening once the door is closed, and all she can hear is the constant thrumming of her own heart. A dimmed light flickers on and her eyes scan the large open space in front of her, hoping to see a head of blonde hair right away and deflating when the area is basically barren. There was only a couple tossed chairs thrown around and an upturned table in the far corner. The ground was covered in dirt though, and an obvious pair of footprints lead over to the staircase on the left.

Emmett strides further into the room with his gun drawn and checks the closets and one empty bathroom before nodding his head towards the stairs. Bella attaches herself to Edward's back as they walk across the room and up the steps, the two of them crouching when Emmett reaches the last one and purposefully surveys the second floor. He tilts his head forward and Edward follows him, Bella right on his tail.

She tries to breathe normally through the lump in her throat as they clear the final step.

Light filters through the only window that's uncovered on the far wall. The trees outside sway normally, a sign of Edward taking a quick break with his powers. Her eyes sweep over the large space and she's crushed to see, once again, another devastatingly empty room. But she shakes her panic away when Emmett releases a breath and points to the left corner. There she sees it's not quite as empty as she thought. Remnants of a phone, now smashed to pieces, litter a small section of the ground, and she stays behind Edward as they walk closer to investigate. Her stomach flips at the apparent brutal beating the device took.

"This was the phone he called you from," Edward states quietly, mirroring her exact thoughts. But why smash it? To avoid being tracked? It was such a human move, and suddenly Bella is unsure if they were after an alien or not.

There's a shuffle of feet behind them and then Emmett's voice rings out in a whisper. "Something's not right h-"

A shout echoes from the room above and all three of them immediately raise their heads to look at the ceiling. Emmett is the first to act, bounding across the room and shooting up the staircase on the right towards the sound, his gun readily cocked within his arms. Edward and Bella are a couple feet behind him and they nearly run into him when he abruptly freezes on the top step. Bella's about to ask him if he's alright but stops mid-breath when a familiar female voice suddenly shrieks out expletives.

" _Ow,_ _shit!_ What the _fuck_! Why are you hurting me like that you fucking _freak_?!"

Bella gapes, grabbing a fistful of the shirt on Edward's back in a mixture of alarm and relief.

 _Rose_.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm so very addicted to writing this story, I swear the characters have taken complete control! To clarify a little bit on E's powers, he can **slow** time for an exaggerated amount of time (with frequent breaks), but can only completely **stop** time for so long, maybe a couple seconds. I know I'm evil for this cliffie * _insert evil laugh here_ * so I hope you all can forgive me ;) thank you for reading! -sondor

 **Annunaki Lang. Help:  
** _in'va_ (een-vah): portable force-field


	23. Chapter 23

Please enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Two:**

Time instantly slows in that moment - but not for Bella. She takes in the scene on the top floor with wide eyes once they've adjusted to the darkness of the room. She cringes in horror when they zone in on her best friend struggling on the dirtied ground with zip-ties fastened around her wrists and ankles. There's a soiled rag covering her eyes and Bella's heart breaks and shatters at the tear tracks that have already dried on her flushed cheeks. Rose never cried. Her chapped lips open again to scream more profanities at her napper, no doubt, but she was moving so slow it was like she wasn't even moving to begin with.

 _God, this is so messed up_.

A pained sob almost leaves Bella's throat but it is quickly swallowed when she spots the outlined dark shadow of a figure standing in the far corner. She almost didn't notice him at first as he blended so well with the gray walls, and she grips Edward's shirt tighter when pale blue eyes suddenly peer out at her from the darkness and lock onto hers. She nearly chokes in bewilderment. _But... I thought our guy had yellow eyes? Who..._

"Edward," she murmurs under her breath, a chill running along her spine and standing the hairs on the back of her neck straight up.

But he doesn't respond. Bella tugs on his shirt and then his hand with urgency and still, nothing. She shifts her gaze up to him, forcing her eyes away from the eerie orbs glowing within the shadows, and inhales a horrified gasp upon seeing the last thing she ever expected happening in this scenario. The man who could bend time at will stood at the top of the stairs, unnaturally frozen and as still as a statue; like a paralyzer had struck him and he was forced to stand in that position indefinitely. She squeezes his immobile hand again, eyes widening in shock before she looks across him at Emmett for help.

Sickening bile rises from her stomach to her throat when she realizes that he too was as motionless as Edward, both of them sharing the same determined look, together stagnant in their poised stances.

" _Tsk tsk_ , Isabella..." a voice within the shadows taunts.

Bella whips her head around to meet the almost familiar crystal blue gaze, and she tugs and tugs on Edward's fingers in alarm. _Who is this guy?_ _What's happening? Why aren't they moving?_ Her tongue dries in her mouth as panic starts to set in. She tries to fight it, but she's so fucking confused and scared that she's unable to control how her heart quickens or how sporadic beads of sweat start to slide down the back of her neck. Her fingers begin to violently shake and she grips onto Edward's still hand for dear life.

The vibrant eyes glinting out from the darkness watch her carefully, like he's expecting her to do something, and when she doesn't comply, he speaks again.

"You've grown since the last time we saw each other."

Her face scrunches. Was he making _small talk_? Right now? She stares blankly in his direction before throwing shit to the wind and retorting, "and you're of course talking about the time when you tried to attack me and my dog took a huge chunk out of your ballsack, right?" It's dangerous of her to be so blunt when she's not exactly sure who she's dealing with, but something about this prick messing with her life makes her see nothing but red.

She thinks she hears a growl. " _No_. I mean all the times your _daddy_ went on a _business_ trip for his _stupid_ _human_ _job_ , leaving me to babysit his little. fucking. _brat_." Each word he enunciates sounds like a curse, but it's the content that sends her into a daze.

Her mouth drops and closes shut many times, like a fish out of water. _Babysit? ...what?_

"I..." she starts but stops, her head shaking back and forth in a mixture of disorientation and denial. "I-I don't know you."

"No?" the voice asks sardonically followed by a sinister chuckle. "Are you sure about that?"

She doesn't answer.

"Come closer."

She doesn't budge.

" _Now_ , _princess_."

The vicious bite in his tone nearly makes her jump out of her shoes and when she hesitates again, he makes sure to add, "your friend has gone through an awful lot today - wouldn't want to put her through anymore, would you?" She spares another look at Rose, gut churning with dread at the thought. _Fuck_.

Edward repeatedly told Bella to stay behind him but there wasn't a thing she could do about it at the moment. She takes a couple measured steps around and in front of him, her arm extending behind her back so her fingers could grasp onto his tightly. She wasn't sure if she needed the contact to absolve the pain that would come without it or if she needed it purely for comfort. No matter the reason, she clings to his frozen touch, trembling anxiously when she lifts another foot and takes a small step forward. She casts a quick glance back at her mate's unseeing eyes, hoping he might snap out of it and that hope deflating when there's no sign of him coming to anytime soon. She never thought her need for him would be this strong in such a short amount of time and she squeezes his hand as hard as she can over and over and over again. _For the love of God, Edward... please wake up..._

"Well, isn't that interesting," the voice mutters, hardened and calloused.

She wrenches her eyes from Edward to the crystalline ones still hiding in the darkened corner. A vibrating shock of anger sparks through her entire body, and she hums noncommittally at his comment. "I agree. It _is_ quite interesting how you're behaving like a coward and have yet to show yourself."

Her heart pounds with her words, and it stutters when a low and threatening growl reaches her ears in response. Any trace of courage she had from moments ago drops the second steel blue eyes menacingly blink into a bright and familiar, burnt yellow.

 _Oh shit Bella, why did you say that?_

* * *

 **A/N:** Real short chapter I know, but will make up for it with another update in the next 3-4 days. Good golly molly, more questions have arisen! Who is yellow? What happened to Em and E? Who was Rose screaming at? Next chapter will have the answers ;) The thoughtful feedback I've been getting from this story is inspiring af, thanks so much! It warms my heart to know that you find this interesting and I'm grateful to have you following along on this journey of mine. Y'all rock! 'Till next time -sondor


	24. Chapter 24

Please enjoy!

* * *

Last on Selcouth Cosmos:

 _"I agree. It_ is _quite interesting how you're behaving like a coward and have yet to show yourself."_

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Three:**

Bella had never really put much thought into how she would die - it wasn't something she necessarily enjoyed thinking about. She actually put a lot of effort into avoiding it ever since Phil passed away. However now in this moment, after possibly pissing off a rogue extraterrestrial being, it was difficult to think of anything else. This could be her end.

Soulless yellow eyes suck her in and keep her captive as they slowly hover out of the darkness and closer to her. The outline of a man becomes clearer once the dim light from the one bulb on the ceiling illuminates his face, and she's unimpressed by how utterly and averagely human his features are - long, shaggy bleach white hair pulled into a messy ponytail, nose long and crooked, and his skin dirtied with layers of filth. She guessed him to younger, maybe close to her age, but the sinister look in his eyes and the grayness of his skin made him seem eons old.

Nothing about him is familiar except for the eye colors he continually switches back and forth from.

"A coward, I am not," Yellow sneers, thin lips forming to a snarl.

 _Yeah okay, yoda, whatever you say._

His right hand moves slightly and she looks away from his eyes to see him holding a small black and metallic device between his fingers. "I prefer to think of myself as a genius mastermind." He then smirks, yellow-tinted gaze watching her closely, and taps the thing in his hand with the other.

Rose immediately becomes animated, time resuming it's normal motion for her. She screams words that would make even a sailor blush, her eyesight thoroughly shrouded by the grimy rag concealing part of her face. Bella shudders when she shouts, " _fuck_ it hurts, please make it stop!" and is about to let go of Edward's frozen hand to reach for her when Yellow clicks the device in his hand, causing all of Rosalie's movement to halt in time once more.

"Stop it!" Bella yells into the suddenly quiet room, "why are you hurting her?!"

Yellow grins at her tormented expression and has the audacity to laugh in her face. "You think _I'm_ hurting her?" He laughs even harder. "That's just rich! Chosen to rule over the Annunaki and she doesn't know a thing about the Anuka mating ritual!" He giggles and cackles like it's some sort of inside joke, meanwhile Bella can feel her patience thinning and on the edge of evaporating completely.

She grinds her teeth. "What are you talking about?"

His laughter subsides and he smiles mockingly at her. "Oh child, so naive." He takes a step around Rose and another and another until he's facing the trembling brunette head on. His dirty hand raises to her cheek and she flinches away from it before he can make contact. Her fingers grip onto Edward's even tighter.

Yellow's eyes narrow into slits, flickering down to glare at their joined hands then back up into her wide ones.

"Tell me," he growls, "how painful is it when you let go?"

Bella doesn't say a thing.

"Let go."

 _No_.

"Let _go_!"

She whimpers, knowing that holding onto her mate's hand was the only thing keeping her grounded. Her breath catches and tears gather in her eyes as she releases her fingers from Edward's one by one until the flare of familiar pain ignites through her body. She rests both hands at her side, balling them into fists, and battles the persistent agony that threatens to rip her apart.

Yellow's upper lip curls in distaste. "Not going to scream like your friend?"

Bella presses her nails hard into her palms and stares into his empty eyes, refusing to let him see how much pain she was in. His words are almost starting to make sense but she's still lost on his point. "Rose... feels what I feel?" she questions, her voice tight with the effort of keeping it steady.

He claps slowly. _Asshole_. "Very good, Isabella."

"But - who?" _Please, please don't say you._

Seemingly bored, he nods his head in Emmett's direction. "That big oaf over yonder."

Her eyes almost bug out of her head. "But _how_?"

"Who _cares_?!" Yellow suddenly shouts, and Bella cringes inwardly. "I don't give a flying _fuck_ about her _or_ the fucking giant!"

She's staring into his angry eyes cautiously when a flashback from the night he tried to attack her takes over her vision. She remembers him stalking towards her car before she made her getaway, and how when she asked what he wanted, he had said... _her_ , like a promise he intended to keep.

"You want me," Bella offers weakly, "...why? Who are you?"

"Ah, and there's the question the entire known universe was waiting for you to ask."

She manages to contain her eyes from rolling.

"You see, princess," he begins, trailing a finger down her shoulder. Every fiber in her body wants to recoil from his touch, but she somehow pushes past it and waits for him to continue. "I've had - _used to have_ \- a very close relationship with both of your fathers." If he sees the shock flash behind her eyes, he doesn't comment on it. "It was I who processed communications between them, delivering messages when needed. Charles trusted me with the job and it was solid work for only the most loyal Dreg, truly. Phil had to go away on business trips to keep up his human facade, and during those times it was up to me to watch over you from a distance and keep you safe." He scoffs to himself. "I had no idea of the value you held then."

Bella fidgets, the pain throughout her body and his confusing words making her increasingly uncomfortable.

"As you got older and grew, so did your appeal."

A wave of ice crashes over her and joins the flames that lick at her skin as his sneer shifts into an unconstrained leer.

* * *

 **A/N:** I know I said 3-4 days for an update on the chapter I posted a couple hours ago, but whaddaya know, this chapter just happened to write itself! So many of you thought it was Phil and I hope you're relieved that it's not. Still don't know this Dreg's name but I'm pretty sure we'll find out soon enough ;) Thanks for reading! -sondor

The last sentence is pretty creepy and threw some of you off, so I'd just like to give a friendly reminder that there are **no** sexual assault scenes in this story.


	25. Chapter 25

Please enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Four:**

A surge of magma swelters through Bella's entire body as she stares at Yellow in shock.

The distance from her mate, though only a few feet away, feels like miles, and her bones ache in response, pleading with her to reach back for his hand to ease their fiery connection. But she's frozen as Yellow's features slowly take on a more sinister appearance. His ashy skin becomes darker and darker, light grey eventually shifting into a deep navy blue. He taps the finger against her shoulder twice and then drags it down to her elbow to grasp the bone jutting out there. Her skin crawls at the contact.

She swallows back the sudden need to throw up. If he gets any closer, she may just aim the omelet she ate this morning straight at his face.

"You were always such a small thing... even as you grew out of your late teens. You've blossomed into a beautiful young woman, Isabella," he murmurs, side-eyeing her clothed curves. She had never felt so exposed, despite being fully dressed, and she lets out a breath she didn't even know she was holding when he continues on. "It was many months before Phil died that I was ordered home to my planet. He somehow convinced Charles you were old enough to watch out for yourself while he was away and there was no need for me to be there any longer. I should have taken you then before I left, but I didn't know any better," he says, almost like he was berating himself. "It wasn't until I returned to _Xon_ and met with an Anuka who had just recently been exiled from _Creo_ , that I realized the potential you had for salvaging my race."

His quick words fly through one ear and out the other, all of it blending together and swirling in snippets through her mind. She gathered _Xon_ was the planet he came from but s _alvaging his race?_ Bella did not like the sound of that one bit. She throws a nervous look behind her, wishing Edward and Emmett would freaking snap out of it already, and wondering how Yellow was keeping both of them still for this long. The device that was in his hand seemed to be doing the trick, but how? Could she somehow distract him enough to figure it out and snatch it away? Then it dawns on her in that moment that the thing Edward put on her leg, the _in'va_ , was still there. She had almost forgotten about it because it was so well hidden.

 _What do I do? God, what do I_ do _?_

Yellow drones on despite her inner turmoil and she can hardly fathom the next words that come out of his mouth. "She enlightened me of the many... _possibilities_ having you by my side would offer. There has been a solid line dividing Dreg and Anuka for millennia - but if I were to join you on the throne..." -her breath catches as her eyes widen- "...the two would be forced to mix until that line was null. Especially once an heir is born." He purrs out the ending of his sentence, but then stops short, ripping his eyes from hers to glare over her shoulder.

"Your mate will complicate things, surely, but I didn't come this far to fail." He transfers his glare to her when she nervously opens her mouth to speak.

"Y-you're trying to..."

"...create a new race? Well done, Isabella, and here I thought you were as dense as a blackhole," he snaps before clearing his throat and patting her arm. She swears she hears a noise from downstairs, like nails softly clicking on metal, but it's drowned out by Yellow's voice when he starts talking again. "I think I've proven what I'm willing to do to get what I want, so I suggest you go along with what I say. You are going to be part of a revolution, princess. The creator of it, in fact. You already have hundreds of followers."

Both of her ears ring loudly through her skull upon understanding his true intent here and she shakes her head back and forth in denial. _This can't be happening. This was too much_. Her vision was starting to go spotty and she knew it's only a matter of time before she passed out. _Don't do it Bella!_ Her heavy breaths turn into pants and she digs her nails into her palms, breaking through skin and effectively forcing herself to snap out of it. _Stay awake dammit!_

Yellow turns his head to the side to gaze down at Rose and his thin lips part into a deranged smile, teeth stretching wide and setting off a chill through Bella's burning body. "And since it's obvious this one is DNA compatible, we might as well take her with us for breeding purpo-"

He was too busy staring down at her friend's crumpled body to catch the flash of red coming up on her left. Her jaw hangs open in disbelief when her giant, russet-colored dog comes out of nowhere and lunges in the direction of Yellow's hand, snarling teeth easily ripping into his wrist and cutting him off in the middle of his psychotic sentence. Yellow shouts in pain and Bella hears a thud of the device he had been gripping in his hand being dropped to the ground.

Everything started moving really fast after that.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm gracing you with three short chapters in two days because I'm nice like that. I was cracking up writing that blackhole comment because... you know... blackholes have an infinite density... lol shoot me, I saw the chance and took it. I was actually pleasantly surprised someone guessed Red would save the day! Dream dog right there; a halfling's best friend! Any theories how he managed to get out of a locked car and through a closed door? I would love to hear them. Thanks for reading! -sondor

 **Annunaki Lang. Help:**  
 _in'va_ (een-vah): Anuka technology/portable force field _  
Xon_ (zahn): Dreg home planet  
 _Creo_ (Cer-ee-oh): Anuka home planet


End file.
